Chefs from 18 countries will come together during the 11th Istanbul International Gastronomy Festival that starts today. There will be competitions in 52 categories as part of the festival.
The smells of culinary delights will be wafting from Istanbul’s TÜYAP Fair and Congress Center from today until Feb. 9 as gastronomes from around the world meet for the 11th International Istanbul Gastronomy Festival.
Yalçın Manav, whose All Cooks Federation (TAF) is organizing the festival, said competitions would be organized in 52 categories as part of the event.
As part of the contest, competitors will be asked to prepare a main course, an entrée and a sweet determined by the jury president using materials provided, said Manav, TAF’s chairman.
Manav said nearly 1,500 chefs, 250 of whom are foreigners, would participate in the competition and that 25 more would exhibit their talents in a special competition for chefs with disabilities.
The economic crisis in Europe has impacted the number of chefs attending from the continent, but top cooks from 18 countries are still expected to participate in this year’s gathering, he said.
“The economic crisis has hit festivals, too. We hosted nearly 30-35 countries in the festival every year, but this year we are hosting [chefs from 18] countries. Most of them are from the Balkans. We used to have guests even from South America, Asia and Far East until three years ago,” he said, while adding that Istanbul would still host one of the largest festivals in terms of the number of young chefs and dishes on offer.
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