Culinary Culture and Local Cuisine Practices in the Transition Period: The Case of Karaman

Abstract

Transition periods, which include situations such as birth, marriage and death, which are a natural process of human life, are special days when both joy, pain and excitement are shared. In Anatolian customs and traditions, people come together and eat together in order to share feelings on such special days. Today, many traditions and customs have begun to be forgotten; culinary culture and local cuisine practices were also affected by this situation. In this study; It is aimed to identify and bring to light the culinary culture and local cuisine practices in the transition periods of the province of Karaman, which is located in the Central Anatolian region, to transfer them to future generations by making them a written source, and thus to disseminate their application in the society. In the qualitative study carried out for this purpose, a semi-structured interview form was applied to 25 people living in Karaman and originally from there, and MAXQDA Analytichs Pro 2018 qualitative data statistics program was used in the thematic analysis of the obtained data. In the results of working; The culinary culture applied in the transition periods of Karaman province was determined and turned into a written source for transfer to future generations. As a result of the study, it is seen that the troublesome treats offered on special days are largely replaced by more practical meals. It is of great importance for our cultural values that these practices, which are gradually decreasing, are investigated and recorded in order to ensure that they are not forgotten and transferred to future generations, and that the relevant institutions are in an encouraging position in ensuring the sustainability of culinary practices in the transitional periods