Yunus Emre Institute's London branch has held the first event for this year of the "A Pinch of Anatolia" project with famous chef Musa Dağdeviren. The popular chef met gastronomy connoisseurs at various events between January 26 and 30 held within the scope of the project that seeks to introduce the culture of the rich and deep-rooted Anatolian cuisine.

 At the first event held at Kings College on January 26, the episode featuring Musa Dağdeviren of Netflix's documentary "Chef's Table" which covers the lives of famous chefs of the world was screened. The screening was followed by a talk by Dağdeviren on Turkish cuisine.

Dağdeviren highlighted how Turkey is a home to many different culinary cultures and cuisines that belong to different nations, as well as how food acts as a bridge in bringing different societies together. Chef Dağdeviren mentioned his wish to pass on the culinary culture he has learned from his mother to the coming generations by keeping it alive. He also shared interesting information with the attendants about food cooked for special occasions in various societies, their ingredients and the reasons of their cooking; stories about meals and the reasons why a certain meal is eaten in a certain season.

Highlighting the importance of preserving Anatolian culinary culture which is about to be lost, the famous chef said that he wrote "The Turkish Cookbook" by visiting about 40 villages over a period of 18 months and holding conversations with the elderly in these villages to benefit from their experiences.

First day's program ended with an autograph session, in which the chef signed his book that he has written in order to pass our rich culinary culture on to the coming generations, wining prestigious Gourmand World Cookbook Award for 2020.

At the event held on January 28, the tasting menu featuring delicious delicacies of Anatolian cuisine, prepared by chef Musa Dağdeviren, were served to the guests at Laz@Camden.  

Barney Desmazery, BBC's food editor, Niki Segnit, famous chef with many cookbooks, famed chef Selin Kiazim, who won BBC's Great British Menu competition, journalist Salma Haidriani and Layla Haidriani, who wrote for Timeout and Independent, James Booth-Clibborn, the general manager of Phaidon Press, famous chef and cookbook writer Yotam Ottolenghi, Nieves Barragán Mohacho, who held a Michelin star and partner of Sabor, chef Nieves Barragan, and many other celebrities attended the night, and the dishes prepared using local ingredients and served along with their history piqued the interest of the attendants. To showcase the wealth of Anatolian cuisine, the menu featured "kestane çorbası," from the Black Sea region, "fasulye piyazı" from Antalya, "içli köfte," "vişneli balık turşusu" and "altı cacıklı" from the Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia region, "kaymaklı kereviz muskası," "fincan böreği," "kestaneli bulgur pilavı" and "ayva şerbeti" from Marmara and Aegean regions.

The last event held on January 30 was open to everyone who was keen on Turkish cuisine and featured the less famous dishes, the famous desserts of Turkish cuisine and special recipes.