Karaman & Silifke Tour

Kitchen Friends took their final gastronomic tour before summer to Karaman and Silifke. In particular, they visited the sinkhole located 40 meters below the aging site of Karaman Divle Obruk Tulum Cheese—made from 70 percent sheep’s milk and 30 percent goat’s milk—which is aged 40 meters below the surface in a sinkhole—exploring the unique geographical features of Divle Village, and the cheese tasting were among the trip’s most memorable highlights. Toyga soup, gıcıdık, batırık, and bulgurca, as well as various types of kavurma and “Erikli”—a dish of lamb with plums prepared in the style of the royal kitchen—were served by the chefs at the Karaman Grand Hotel. After visiting Tartan Mansion, Çeşmeli Church, Hatuniye Madrasa, the Karaman Museum, and the Taşkale grain silos, the Friends of the Kitchen crossed the Taurus Mountains via the Sertavul Pass, reached the Silifke region, and arrived at the Mediterranean coast, where they visited the Atatürk Tekir Farm. Purchased by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in 1925, the farm is Turkey’s first agricultural credit cooperative. With Atatürk as its primary partner, the 36-member cooperative served the local community for many years—primarily through rice and cotton farming, later expanded to include livestock farming—and marked the beginning of a major agricultural initiative. After lying dormant for some time, the Tekir Farm has been brought back to life thanks to the efforts of the Mersin Metropolitan Municipality. The “Friends of the Kitchen” group listened to the story of Tekir Farm—dating back to 1925—and its agricultural vision inside the restored main building; they also sampled strawberry juice—a key product of Silifke—in the farm’s garden and received information from officials. There are plans to restore the farm’s other buildings and open them both to visitors and to women’s cooperatives and workshops. After meals in Silifke featuring blue crab and a variety of seafood at Baba Restaurant, they visited Selefkia Wines—which processes grapes from villages in the Taurus Mountains at an elevation of 1,400 meters—where they tasted Aküzüm, Göküzüm, and Patkarası wines at Selefkia Wines, which processes grapes from villages in the Taurus Mountains at 1,400 meters above sea level. In particular, the 2020 vintage of Patkarası—grown at high altitudes—caught everyone’s attention with its aging potential. At the Silifke Gastronomy Inn, the wide array of regional dishes—from keşkek to kulak soup, and from stews to stuffed meatballs—was capped off with the traditional dessert “mekik.”