Africa occupies a unique position in the world due to its cultural diversity and natural wealth.
About this, the wife of Turkish President Emine Erdogan said at the event “Taste of Africa: a holiday of culture, cuisine and friendship” and presentations of his book “African Culinary Culture”, organized in the “Turkish House” in New York.
“We believe that both acquisition and loss are common to us, living on the same Earth and belonging to the same human family. From this point of view, we know that leaving Africa behind means that the whole world will lose the true potential of the continent”, – said the wife of the Turkish leader.
The first lady Erdogan believes that Africa, where more than 1 billion representatives of various ethnic groups speak more than 2 thousand different languages is a colorful projection of human societies.
According to Erdogan, most of all during visits to Africa it was always impressive by the exceptional diversity of the continent.
The dynamism of the continent is manifested in all layers of its culture, from the kitchen to clothes, she said.
The unique culinary culture of Africa in itself is a valuable treasure, the wife of the Turkish president continued.
Guests of the African table see a unique colorfulness that permeates each stage, from serving to the preparation technique, Erdogan noted. “Such an experience makes you feel so special that you want to tell your loved ones and others about the tastes and stories that go through the roots for centuries. It was this desire that united us around the desire to write the book” African Culinary Culture “in 2018,” the wife said President of Turkey.
Erdogan recalled that the first edition of the book was published in 2019 under the auspices of the President and under the leadership of the Association of African cultural houses, with the participation of the Association of spouses of ambassadors and heads of the missions of African countries (Ashom). >
“In this publication, we included 58 original recipes from 5 different regions of the continent. In the new expanded version, which was presented today, we almost doubled the number of recipes up to 110. We even more enriched the content of the book, presenting traditional recipes based on human knowledge. I noticed that the preparation methods and therapeutic recipes of the Ottoman cuisine also influenced African tastes in the book.
According to her, African cuisine recipes are created with the desire to avoid excess food consumption, as in Turkish cuisine. “In the period when global food waste exceeds $ 1 billion and causes anxiety, knowledge and experience of countries that did not break off ties with their cultural exercises, become even more important,” Erdogan said, recalling the African proverb: “If your roots are deep you don’t have to be afraid of the wind. “