It's one of those mild late-summer evenings when the light shimmers over the sea, as if trying to hold on to summer one last time. Today we are in the small town of Urla, about half an hour west of Izmir.
Among vineyards, fig trees and silvery olive groves, a special event takes place here: “Bir Sofrada”, “At One Table”.
Once a month, cooks, farmers, artists and neighbours meet here to cook together. Everyone brings something: bread, cheese, vegetables from the garden, sometimes just stories. The long table stands in the middle of the olive grove, decorated with old linen cloths, clay jugs and candles.
We meet Ayse, 67, a former teacher who has been baking bread in a clay oven since she retired. “You know,” she says, laughing as she kneads the dough, “I used to share knowledge. Today I share bread. Both are fun, just in different ways.”
Next to her stands Efe, a young chef from Izmir who works at a cookery school in Karşıyaka. He tells me they are bringing old recipes back to life, dishes that had almost been forgotten. Today he is serving “zeytinyağlı enginar”: artichokes with olive oil, dill and lemon zest.
On this beautiful day, people tell stories: about the last olive harvest, old folk songs, grandmothers who pickled olives with thyme. And somewhere in the distance, someone softly sings folk songs to a saz (long-necked lute).
What we understood that evening:
Food here is not a luxury but a language. One that connects, comforts and carries stories. Perhaps that is the soul of the Aegean, and the reason people from all over the world keep coming back to Izmir.
