Istanbul Culinary Institute

Established in 2008, Istanbul Culinary Institute is a professional training and production center, dedicated to researching, teaching and promoting Turkish cuisine nationally and globally. Combining its educational, cultural and commercial objectives under the same roof, the Institute includes a school of culinary arts, an apprentice restaurant (Enstitü), and a gourmet food store featuring food items produced on the premises. It also hosts seminars and occasional public events (films, lectures and exhibitions) about the culinary cultures of Turkey and the world at large and plans are underway to start a newsletter and to support other culinary publications.

Turkish cuisine is the fortunate heir to the rich and diverse culinary cultures of the Ottoman Empire spread over the entire Eastern Mediterranean, from the Balkans to the Middle East. Deriving its inspiration from the centuries-old culinary traditions of this vast geography, the mission of Istanbul Culinary Institute is to re-present Turkish cooking with a contemporary face. The objective is to work with a curriculum of familiar, popular, and widely consumed dishes that can be prepared simply and tastefully with easily available seasonal ingredients while conforming to today’s cultural, hygenic and asthetic standards