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Kilis Cuisine and Its Registered Flavours

Kilis lies in the south of Anatolia, at the edge of a small plain below the Kefiz Mountain. Its cuisine, however, is far larger than the size of the town would suggest.

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Kilis Cuisine and Its Registered Flavours

Kilis lies in the south of Anatolia, at the edge of a small plain below the Kefiz Mountain. Its cuisine, however, is far larger than the size of the town would suggest. The culinary culture page of the Kilis Governorship describes the local kitchen as enriched by many cultures and as one of the distinctive gastronomic points of Anatolia. The same page notes that in the Turkey Flavour Map survey, prepared by the Ankara Chamber of Commerce and the Ankara Patent Office, Kilis ranked among the top five of 81 provinces for variety of dishes. This article follows the part of that variety that is documented by official records. We look at the products registered by the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office, at what sets the local olive oil apart, and at a few dishes that live on at the table. The cover photograph shows Kilis kebab, the tray kebab. That dish is not on the list of registered products; it stands on the cover only as a reminder of the town's table culture.

What a geographical indication means

The Kilis Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism frames the subject clearly. Geographically indicated products differ from their counterparts and owe that difference to the region that made them known; they carry high added value. There are two types, the designation of origin and the indication of source. A traditional product name is a third category, for names that have been used for at least thirty years to describe a product on the market. In other words, a registration is an official record of a product's name and production conditions. Eleven products registered by the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office are listed for Kilis. The directorate's list reads Kilis Tava, Kilis Olive Oil, Kilis Katmer, Cennet Çamuru, Ekşili Kebap, Kırk Semseği, Kilis Quilt, Şıhılmahşe, Kübbülmüşviyye, Kilis Horoz Karası Grape and Kilis Breakfast Dried Thyme Blend. The Governorship states that ten of the eleven are directly linked to food and drink culture, and from the list it appears that the quilt is the one left out. A main dish, a kebab, a dessert, an oil, a grape and a spice blend therefore stand side by side in one official register.

Katmer and the sweet tradition

In the TürkPatent records, Kilis Katmeri is registered as an indication of source. Its file number is C2014/028, the application date is 17 April 2014, the registration number is 193 and the registration date is 27 November 2015. The product group is bakery and pastry products, doughs and sweets, and the applicant is the Kilis Governorship. These details show the institutional work behind a name that is often mentioned. The Governorship's list also includes Cennet Çamuru, which it explains in brackets as Kilis cream-filled crumbled künefe. The Culture Portal's traditional cuisine headings for Kilis include İç Katması, Pekmezli Hapısa, Kübbülmüşviyye and Patlıcan Kabak Bastırma. Its travel souvenir section lists menengiç coffee, olives and grape molasses. These headings show that the cuisine is not a matter of one dessert alone. Sweets, pastries, appetisers, preserved vegetable dishes and drinks complement each other within the same official catalogue.

Olive oil, the town's main product

Kilis Olive Oil was registered as an indication of source on 4 February 2022. The registration number is 1021, the file number is C2019/157 and the application date is 1 November 2019. The Kilis Provincial Directorate of Trade made the application, and the product group is recorded as solid and liquid oils including butter. According to the product description on the Culture Portal, the oil is natural extra virgin olive oil obtained from the Kilis oil olive variety grown in the province of Kilis. The description also covers the tree. The trees are moderately vigorous and form a medium-sized, broad and drooping crown. The leaves are medium-long and broadly elliptical. The tree is not sensitive to cold. The fruits are generally small and round, the skin is thin, the stone is small and the oil content is about 33 percent. The variety shows strong periodicity, which means that some years bring a heavy crop and others a light one.

The production rules are part of the description. At harvest, care is taken not to damage the natural structure of the fruit, and it is pressed without delay so that it does not lose its qualities. The description also states that every stage of production takes place within the geographical boundary. Orchards used to be planted from stumps, but saplings propagated by cuttings are now used. Cultivation is mostly traditional, although modern methods are used for tasks such as irrigation and fertilising. The announcement of Kilis 7 Aralık University summarises the work behind the registration. With projects supported by the Silk Road Development Agency, laboratories were set up at the university's advanced technology centre, and the profile of Kilis oil olive oil was drawn up. The Governorship brought all stakeholders together and the application went forward under the lead of the Provincial Directorate of Trade. Another structure shows why the olive matters to Kilis. According to the Governorship's page on the Kilis Museum, the Historic Soap Factory building was a place of olive oil based soap production and now serves as the museum; it is described as a witness to the town's deep economic past built on olives and olive oil.

Dishes that live at the table

Beyond the registered names, the Governorship's food page gives examples from the daily table. Sour lentil soup with garlic, called ekşili malhita, is one of them. The recipe uses red lentils, olive oil, lemon or citric acid, garlic and mint. The lentils are rinsed twice in cold water and the foam that forms while cooking is removed. Finely chopped aubergine or chard goes into the pot, and the sour element is added only after the soup is cooked. Part of the garlic is crushed into the soup, while the rest is lightly browned in olive oil and poured on at the end. This order shows that the dish builds its balance on sourness and garlic.

Lebeniye is a very different dish. Diced meat and chickpeas soaked overnight are cooked together, and rice is added later. Strained yoghurt is whisked with an egg, warmed gently over a low flame and poured over the rice soup. The soup is cooked until it thickens, and finally it is served hot with melted clarified butter and mint. The Governorship's recipe list also includes Kilis Tava, and its ingredients include medium-fat minced mutton, fresh peppers, parsley and onions. The same page stresses that the cuisine is not limited to sweets and pastries but offers a wide range from main dishes to regional products. Ekşili Kebap appears in the official list as a separate registered product. It should not be confused with the tray kebab on the cover, because only Ekşili Kebap is among the registered products.

Lebeniye Day

In Kilis, cuisine also turns into a social gathering. According to the Governorship, Lebeniye Day is held every year on the last Friday of April at the foot of Oylum Höyük. At this event the local lebeniye dish and bulgur pilaf are cooked together in large quantities and offered to visitors. The Governorship says the food is kept alive here not merely as a flavour but as a concrete expression of solidarity and cultural continuity. Because Oylum Höyük is an active excavation area, the official pages give no visiting conditions. For the place, time and participation rules of the event, check the announcements of the Kilis Governorship and the provincial culture and tourism directorate beforehand. In this article we speak of the event only as far as the official page states.

What to take home and how to look

For a visitor who wants to buy something from Kilis, the official records offer a useful yardstick. The terms of use for Kilis Olive Oil are defined as follows. The phrase Kilis Zeytinyağı and the indication of source emblem appear on the packaging. Where they cannot be placed on the packaging, they are displayed where they can be easily seen at the business. Looking for the phrase and the emblem on the packaging is therefore the way to recognise the registered product. The list of registration holders is kept on the product page of the TürkPatent geographical indications portal.

Before going to Kilis, the following order makes sense. First look at the registered products page of the provincial culture and tourism directorate and sort the list according to your own plans. Then read the recipes on the food page to learn what ekşili malhita and lebeniye taste like. To understand the story of the oil, stop by the town centre where the Historic Soap Factory building stands. To check visiting hours, consult the current pages of the Governorship and the directorate. Finally, learn the date of Lebeniye Day from the official announcements at the start of the year.

A closing word

Kilis cuisine tells three things at once. The first is its variety, since in the survey recorded by the Governorship the town is among the top five. The second is its documented identity: ten of the eleven registered products belong to the table, and the application date, number and institution are known for each. The third is its living tradition, a yearly gathering built around food cooked together. Reading these three, there is no need for an invented gastronomic legend, because the official register already gives enough detail. The tray kebab on the cover keeps its place in the town's table culture as part of this variety, though it is not among the registered products.

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