Specialities

Local cultivation
The Çoruh Valley is one of the very few places in Turkey where local domestic plant and animal varieties have been successfully conserved and traditional methods of production are still used. Agricultural chemicals and genetically modified seeds are too expensive for small farmers and farm animals are also still moved to upper pastures to graze natural grasses. In winter, cattle are fed on waste fruit and vegetables (such as dried damaged apples, bean stalks and wild plants). Farmers make delicious yoghurt, cheese and butter and provide high-quality local meat and some is used to make sausage, pastrami and other cured products.
The valley’s organic products can be recognized by their natural taste. In the fields surrounding the higher villages, maize, green and broad beans, wheat and potatoes are cultivated. Small gardens contain tomatoes, green onions, garlic, salads and herbs. All available irrigated, flat land is used to grow vegetables for home consumption or the local markets and also sent to Erzurum. The orchards are filled with a wide variety fruits such as mulberries, walnuts, grapes and apricots, apples and hazelnuts.
In the land at the base of the valley, where there’s a Mediterranean climate, olives, pomegranates and rice with a distinct natural aroma are grown. Rice-paddies are still ploughed by water buffalo, which also provide manure. Locally produced olive oil has won awards in international contests. Honey is an important local crop and the hives are moved up the mountains, following the flowers, to achieve the best taste and production.

Edible wild fruit
As the edible wild plants grow on dry land, their flavour, minerals and smell is more concentrated than in cultivated fruit. Wild fruit is found in many areas, including erosion zones and areas where it’s too windy for normal fruit trees and where they also have a conservation function. They are also a host for other elements of the eco-system including insects and birds. Migratory birds distribute their seeds and their fading leaves add to the autumn colour. Important wild trees are often reserved for one family; everyone-except bears-respects the rules. While collecting walnuts or apples, village women in Barhal sometimes see bears eating from a nearby tree.
Local fruit is used fresh, dried (in jams, syrups, marmalades) and to make ‘pestil’ (mulberry marmalades ‘leather’) and ‘sucuk’ (a sausage-shaped fruit concentrate). It is also used in natural medicine to treat many different ailments. Some 17 different species have been listed. These include:
- Black mulberry: There are many old specimens of this large tree around Yusufeli. The delicious juicy fruit is collected at the end of July and eaten fresh or used in syrup, jams or ‘pekmez’ (grape or fruit molasses).
- Wild strawberries, raspberries and blackberries: These grow on damp slopes near forest or the edge of roads. They are collected early August and used fresh or for jam.
- Rosehip: This is collected in September. It is used to make marmalade and also dried for a medicinal tea, which is used for infections and colds.
- There are four types of hawthorn berries, including an endemic one, which grow in the area. They are used as a remedy for heart problems.
- Wild cherry: This grows on a large tree and is either red or black fruit. It is found in the Salakçur valley near Ispir and in Uzunkavak near Uzundere. The fruit is picked in July or August and used fresh for constipation and urinary problems.
- Wild pear: This grows on tall, dark trees (locally called ‘banda’ or ‘ahlat’) and found in quantity in the Çoruh valley. Crab apples are less common. Both are picked in September and dried for use as a winter food.
Smaller plants used for medicine include the sea buckthorn (used as a painkiller and for wounds) and the barberry (used as syrup or a soup and as a cure for colds). The seeds of a prunus tree found only in Uzundere and Ispir (locally called the ‘melhem’) are used for breathing difficulties and diabetes.

Local food
Local produce is a highlight of the Çoruh and Kaçkar and the markets here are a delight. Typical food includes stuffed vine-leaves, broad bean paste, green beans and fresh salads. Some specialties are:
- ‘keskul’ (an almond milk pudding)
- ‘kestaneli dolma’ (cabbage leaves stuffed with chestnuts)
- ‘iç pilav’ (rice with pine kernels)
- ‘kaysefe’ (dried plum or mulberry cooked in butter)
- ‘kesme çorba’ (lentil-noodle soup flavoured with tarragon)
- ‘lor dolması’ (dock leaves stuffed with bulgur and curd)
- ‘Pestil kayganası’ (pestil cooked in butter and egg)
Walnuts are picked fresh from the tree while they are still green, left to stand in lime and then cooked in sugar syrup to produce traditional walnut taffy. The tart syrup leaves a taste on the palate that will take your breath away. Walnut rolls (‘ceviz sucuğu’) and sheets of dried crushed walnuts (‘ceviz pestili’) are also traditional food.
Pickled vegetables – including the roots of wild plants, plus gherkins, cucumbers, green tomatoes and onions – are bottled and used in winter.
‘Muhlama’ the best-known local dish, is made of butter, cheese and cornflour and served hot. Fried meat, especially ‘kavurma’ (small pieces of meat cooked in a pan with vegetables) is common. Trout from the Kaçkar streams is cooked in cornflour and butter in a pan and served with onion or green salad. Recently started small bed&breakfast businesses serves delicious local food in Uzundere district.
The international Slow Food Movement has a programme for hundreds of unique protected food, called ‘Presidia’. Turkey has only once won a prize, for Kaçkar honey, but deserves far more. The UNDP project hopes to protect traditional recipes and methods, and to provide marketing opportunities for farmers and producers. This would help to generate both income locally and raise international awareness of the region.