BY SHAHD ALHAMDAN
JEDDAH — “People can learn from eating Turkish cuisine that we don’t use lots of spices and we try to cook simple, plain, delicious dishes with lots of tomato paste, beef and lemon,” Turkish chef Okan Aydemir said during the second Turkish Food Festival at Rosewood Jeddah.
The festival, which runs until Feb. 8, offers guests an opportunity to explore the unique Turkish taste every evening from 7 p.m. to midnight.
The Turkish chef, 28, is visiting Saudi Arabia for the first time to lead the team of chefs working on the Turkish food festival.
Aydemir told Saudi Gazette: “This is my first time here and I will stay for 15 days until the festival finished. The Executive Chef of Rosewood has found me from one of my friends and contacted me. This is a new experience for me. It is difficult to come to another country that you don not know because you do not know what or how the ingredients are used and how are the people and the kitchen. But, I trust myself and I trust my job. That is why I came here to gain a great experience for me. I will learn something here and I am happy to be here.”
He is the Head Chef at Kempinski Hotel Barbaros Bay in Turkey and he has around 15 years of experience in luxury hotels.
According to Aydemir, he studied cooking for 6 years and he worked in different countries, including United States, Abu Dhabi, and Turkey. He said having the chance to travel and work in different destinations give the person the opportunity to learn about others and explore. Aydemir added that his favorite cuisine is the Turkish food.
“Being an executive chef is an important position. You have to know everything,” he remarked.
Turkish cuisine is my favorite cuisine because it’s my mother cuisine, that is why I love to cook Turkish food and I think Turkish cuisine is the most delicious food in the world, I can say it. It brings everything — culture and food. In the United States, I was cooking Turkish food, too,” he said.
For 2017, he will be focusing on achieving his work target at his work and to succeed in work during the high season at the hotel.
He added “I want to be successful in my job in the hotel and I love my job and I can move everywhere to do my job.”
