The TCF Culinary Arts Center-YESAM is getting ready to organize a Culinary Cultural Tour to Ayvalik and the surrounding region on November 7-9. Tour guests will participate in the olive harvest, observe the making of olive oil, and sample olive oil and regional cuisine, while learning about the rich history of the region. Nedim Atilla, renowned food culture researcher and journalist will accompany the tour. For more information and to register, please visit here.

The TCF-World Affairs Councils of America’s "Spotlight on Turkey" national educational program’s Portrait of Turkey phase had its kick-off last month and several programs were organized in October. On October 10, the World Affairs Council of St.Louis organized a workshop featuring lectures on modern Turkey and Anatolia’s history. A display of Turkish art and artifacts was also provided by area teachers who participated in the TCF Teacher Study Tours. The second event was organized by the World Affairs Council of Northwest Ohio on October 11 in Oregon. Area teachers who traveled to Turkey last summer on the TCF Teacher Study Tour shared their insights with the audience,  taught paper marbling and showed a video presentation to share their cultural experiences. On October 22, the World Affairs Council of Las Vegas organized an event on Turkish cuisine, where teachers from Las Vegas gave a presentation about the study tour. Meanwhile, Jon Parkin, an Edwardsville, IL teacher, who was on the 2014 TCF tour gave a presentation at the Madison County Teacher Institute, titled "Anatolia: 10,000 Years of Culture and History."

TCF awarded a third year major grant to the Ottoman Studies program at the National Hellenic Research Foundation in Athens, Greece. The TCF grant provides full funding to teach a course on Ottoman Language and Paleography at the Foundation. Nearly 150 students have participated in the first two years of the program, which was offered on the first and second levels. In the upcoming academic year, the course will be offered at the second and third levels and will be taught by Dimitris Loupis (TCF Fellow in Turkish Culture and Art-2010), under the direction of Dr. Evangelia Balta, also a TCF Fellow and Research Director at the Insitute.

TCF awarded major grants in support of the Turkish festivals in Boston, Charlotte and Seattle. Organized by the American Turkish Association of North Carolina, the 4th Annual Turkish Festival of Charlotte will take place on October 25. The 19th Boston Turkish Festival titled Colors of Anatolia, organized by the Turkish American Cultural Society of New England-TACSNE, begins on October 29 and last through December 15. The Turkish Festival of Seattle began on October 17 and will continue until November 23, featuring Turkfest, the 1st Ahiska Turks Friendship Festival and the 2nd Seattle Turkish Film Festival. The festivities are organized by the Turkish American Cultural Association of Washington-TACAWA as part of “Turkish Heritage Month,” proclaimed by the Governor of the State of Washington.

Dr. Selim Kuru, an Associate Professor at the University of Washington, Seattle, gave a lecture on “Signatures of Sultans, Signs of Love: Uses of Turkish Language in the Ottoman Empire” at the TCF Istanbul Office on October 16. Brenna MacCrimmon, (TCF Cultural Exchange Fellow-2014), singer and songwriter of Turkish and Balkan music, will talk about "Balkan Music and Turkish Culture” at the TCF Culinary Arts Center (YESAM) on October 24. For more information on upcoming TCF Lecture Series in Turkish Culture and Art, visit here. All TCF Istanbul lectures are recorded and may be watched online on the TCF Video Gallery.

On September 4, the TCF Culinary Arts Center - YESAM hosted a lecture by Pelin Dumanli, chef and researcher of Turkish culinary culture. In her lecture titled "Offal in Turkish Cuisine," Ms. Dumanli explained the history of offal culture in Turkish cuisine, starting with early Anatolian civilizations until today; the processing and different cooking techniques of offal. The presentation was followed by a tasting of samples of different types of offal dishes.

The next YESAM lecture will feature culinary expert and journalist Aylin Oney Tan, who will speak on “Bone-dry Freshness; Dried Vegetables in Turkish Cookery” on October 22. Ms. Tan will explain the significance of dried vegetables, including the preparation, usage and popular recipes associated with these vegetables. Guests will get a chance to taste some regional specialties made with various dried vegetables after the seminar.

For more information on upcoming YESAM seminars, please visit the YESAM website. Past YESAM lectures are periodically uploaded and are available for viewing on the TCF Video Portal.

YESAM also highlights Turkish cooking traditions every month with the YESAM Recipe of the Month, which features a recipe for Rice Pilaf with fresh herbs and pistachios for October.

Caner Karavit (TCF Cultural Exchange Fellows-2014), Professor at Mimar Sinan University in Istanbul, received an award for Best Foreign Artist at the China Art Industry Expo in Songzhuang/Beijing. Under his fellowship, Prof. Karavit has been conducting research on traditional Chinese paintings under the direction of Han Shi Liu in Beijing and will be teaching Chinese painting at his university.

TCF Academic Fellows Hasan Colak, Zeynep Nevin Yelce, Kayhan Orbay, Elif Bayraktar Tellan and Ahmet Yasar participated in CIEPO 2014 International Conference in Budapest, Hungary on October 7-11, 2014 with various presentations.

Ozlem Uzun Hazneci (TCF Cultural Exchange Fellow-2014) joined the Jack Bowman Organ and Art Concert tour, which combines 20th century Turkish art, music, dance, and poetry with organ music of J.S. Bach. Ms. Hazneci presented a selection of 20th century Turkish art at concerts in Minnesota, Illinois, and Oklahoma in October 5-14, 2014.

For more information on the TCF Fellowship programs, please visit here.

Prof. Dr. Recep Karadag gave a lecture at the International Symposium-ISEND2014 and Exhibition on Natural Dyes and World Eco-Fiber and Textile Forum-WEFT which was held on October 13-17 in Taiwan. His presentation was titled "Understanding and Conserving the Past and Recreating Natural Dyes for Today." Meanwhile, DATU expert Emine Torgan gave a presentation titled "Determination of antimicrobial activity of dyed silk fabrics with natural dyes," at the 6th International Istanbul Textile Conference at Marmara University on October 15-17. DATU will also participate in the 33rd Annual Dyes in History and Archaeology Conference at the University of Glasgow, UK on October 29-November 1, with three poster presentations, prepared in collaboration with Marmara University Faculty of Technology. Dr. Karadag will also give a lecture about "Natural Dyes" at the University of Northampton, School of Arts on October 25. For details about these programs, please visit the DATU website.