Girne Municipality Organised the 1st Gastro Show Event in Girne on Saturday, September 17, with the aim of promoting the establishment of gastro-tourism.
Girne Municipality organised the 1st Gastro Show event with the aim of promoting, maintaining and sustaining the Authentic Traditional Cypriot Cuisine, which has gradually left our kitchens and restaurants replacing it with world cuisine, and to promote the establishment of Gastro Tourism in the country.
Citizens and tourists showed great interest in the Gastro Show event in Girne, which is a first in the country. The participants of the Gastro Show also had the opportunity to taste the authentic flavours of the Cypriot Cuisine, to learn how they are prepared and to buy them.
During the event, visual shows about the preparation, production and tasting of local and authentic flavours, folk dance performances, music concerts and a panel on Authentic Cyprus took place, while people had the opportunity to taste authentic flavours unique to Cyprus Cuisine, see how these foods and beverages are made and buy them.
Mustafa Şah, member of the Advisory Board of the First Gastro Show Girne event, Gourmet, Chef, Trainer, tourism and gastronomy expert, congratulated the Girne Municipality, which organised the event, and drew attention to the fact that gastronomy has a very important place in the tourism industry.
Noting that it is of great importance to study and transfer the art of gastronomy of the country to future generations, as well as to introduce and present it to the tourists coming to the country, Şah said that in all hotels and facilities in Northern Cyprus, which is a tourism country, tourists should be offered local dishes, and not tastes imported from different parts of the world and emphasised the need to present local tastes and products.
Reminding that gastronomy, which has an important place in tourism activity in the world, is used to attract tourists, and Gastro Festivals are organised for this purpose, Şah expressed his belief that this first event, will lead to the survival and promotion of authentic Cypriot cuisine and the development of gastro tourism in the country.
Stating that the event was about explaining the authentic Cypriot cuisine through practices and spreading it to the world with participants from different parts of the country, Şah wished that the Gastro Show Girne event would turn into a Gastro festival in the coming years.
Girne Mayor Nidai Güngördü emphasised that the purpose of the event was to promote the authentic traditional Cypriot Cuisine, to ensure its sustainability with its originality and to contribute to the development of Gastro Tourism, and to introduce the Cyprus Cuisine to the tourists coming to the country and to conduct a detailed scientific study on the Cyprus Cuisine, and believed that the organisation will be a spark in this regard in the country.
Expressing that Northern Cyprus tourism does not consist solely of hotels, casinos, natural and historical riches, but also has a very rich gastronomic culture, Güngördü said that Cyprus Gastronomy, which is a blend of Mediterranean cuisine and different cultures passing through the island should be brought to the fore to keep this tradition alive and stressed the importance of transferring it to the future.
Nidai Güngördü, stated that food and beverage culture has a unifying feature for people and offered his thanks to the members of the Advisory Board, Mustafa Şah and Zekai Altan, to the city council, its personnel, the Chamber of Food Engineers and the cooks.
Noting that they wish to organize a gastronomy festival in the coming years with the participation of stakeholders such as the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, the Restaurant and Hoteliers Union, the Chamber of Food Engineers, Güngördü stated that this event was but a first step.
Güngördü stated that in addition to the Gastro Shows, a scientific panel on the Authentic Cyprus Cuisine was also included in the event, adding that they aimed to make a scientific study on the Authentic Cyprus Cuisine and to publish the food and beverage culture in a way that would relate historical recipes and associaited stories.
Güngördü emphasised that everyone had a duty to preserve the original authentic Cypriot Cuisine and transfer it to the future.
During the event, authentic traditional Cypriot Cuisine was introduced, traditional original Cypriot flavours were cooked and presented hot to the participants. Packages of local produce were also on sale.
Within the scope of the event, a panel discussion on Authentic Cyprus Cuisine took place at the Girne Municipality Art Gallery between 13.30-15.00.
Source (Turkish):Girne Municipality
