HÜRRİYET — MÜGE AKGÜN — Asma Khan, founder of London’s Darjeeling Express, came to Istanbul at the invitation of Doğan Yıldırım, the businessman behind Seraf, and Chef Sinem Özler. The two chefs went into the kitchen together and set a shared table.
The column finds the meaning of the meeting in what the two chefs have in common: though born and raised in different geographies, both see food as a matter of memory, solidarity and sharing as much as flavour, and both work to carry on the culinary tradition of the land they come from. Another thing they share is that neither trained as a chef. Khan studied law and completed a doctorate on English constitutional law; Özler worked in advertising and client relations before moving into restaurant management, and entered the kitchen during her years managing Seraf.
At the table set on 26 August were Khan’s tomato raita, fish kofta and chutney and her mother’s chicken biryani, alongside Özler’s imambayıldı, chard dolma with curd cheese, Seraf’s own içli köfte and semolina halva.
The next morning the group travelled to Tokat at the invitation of Ozan Diren, chairman of DİMES and of TÜSİAD. At the Erzak Cooperative in the Emirseyit district, women prepared sarma with the region’s distinctive vine leaves — filled with broad beans, plums, lentils and meat. The programme continued with a visit to the Kazova farm, the Maturation Institute and Tokat kebab.
