An International Meeting Point of the Gastronomy World
Held between December 17–20, 2025, at the Bahçelievler Congress Center, the International Istanbul Gastronomy Festival was organized by the Turkish Chefs and Cooks Federation (TAŞFED) in cooperation with the World Association of Chefs’ Societies (WACS). The festival aimed to promote sectoral knowledge sharing and international interaction by bringing together professional chefs, academics, gastronomy students, and young talents on the same platform.
One of the festival’s most prominent competitions, JPT 2 – Best University Team of the Year, was held as a prestigious event showcasing universities’ practical skills and teamwork in gastronomy. In the competition, teams were evaluated based on technical proficiency, taste, presentation, and time management, as they prepared original menus within a specified time.
Outstanding Performance by IGU Students
The first team representing Istanbul Gelisim University consisted of Mevlüt Ubeyde Can, Onurcan Öceş, and Emine Toraman. The team presented a menu featuring Malkara lentils with shrimp sautéed in butter as the appetizer, sous vide duck with potato pavé as the main course, and caramelized quince dessert with tahini ganache for dessert.
The second IGU team was composed of Emrullah Saraç, Umutcan Yılmaz, and Şeyma Nur Bayrak. Their menu included sea bass ceviche as the appetizer, turbot fish with Jerusalem artichoke purée as the main course, and crème citron with forest fruits for dessert.
International Success of Practice-Oriented Education
The gold medal won by IGU students at the International Istanbul Gastronomy Festival was evaluated as a concrete outcome of the university’s practice-oriented educational approach in gastronomy. This achievement once again demonstrated not only the students’ professional competencies, but also IGU’s industry-responsive education model and its international competitiveness.
