This year the Basque Culinary World Prize 2023, a prize endowed with 100,000 euros that since 2016 has been awarded by the Basque Culinary Center of San Sebastián to recognize the work of chefs with transformative initiatives, has gone to the hands of the Turkish chef Ebru Baybara Demir, who for two decades has been involved in initiatives that face everything from the migration crisis in the region, the revitalization of soils in the face of climate change or even humanitarian assistance that tragedies such as the earthquake suffered in Turkey demand.
Born in Edirne in 1976, Baybara Demir lived in Istanbul during her childhood and youth. She graduated in Tourism from Marmara University in 1998 and for a time served as Secretary General of the Istanbul Chamber of Guides and the Turkish Tour Guides Association. In 1999 she decided to change her life by moving to Mardin to manage a hotel and a small restaurant with the aim of promoting tourism in this border area with Syria.
There, at the Cercis Murat Mansion -as the restaurant is called-, he began cooking, serving his guests every night with products grown using conventional agricultural methods, traditional recipes and unique presentations.
Baybara Demir received support from various international organizations, non-governmental organizations and private sector entrepreneurs as well as local ministries and administrations, and implemented social projects in various areas of Turkey to directly contribute to the economic transformation of Mardin and its surroundings.
This was a really brave move in a city where tourism revenues are so low due to security issues related to terrorism, where farmers have turned away from farming, and cross-border trade is all but over due to war in the Middle East.
With the aim of contributing to the employment of refugees using the kitchen, Baybara Demir and 21 other women managed to turn the Cercis Murat Mansion into the first tourist establishment in Mardin, and also the first and only restaurant in the region.
In the multiple initiatives of which she is a part, Baybara Demir empowers Syrian and Turkish women and dismantles prejudices by highlighting the richness of the exchange of cultures. She currently supports the cooperative for agricultural development From Soil to Plate, in which volunteers from the region encourage the production and consumption of local, ancestral grains, such as Sorgül; in addition to getting involved in efforts aimed at managing biodegradable waste in popular markets in Diyarbakır.
This year the Basque Culinary World Prize jury has not only rewarded the work of Baybara Demir, but has also recognized the work of two other cooks. Special mentions have been awarded to Nicole Pisani (United Kingdom), for revolutionizing the way in which child feeding is assumed in schools, and to Heidi Bjerkan (Norway), for implementing multiple restaurant models based on the circular economy and a gastronomy committed to social reality.
In 2022, the Basque Culinary World Prize was awarded to the African cook Fatmata Binta, promoter of ‘Dine on a mat’, an initiative that disseminates the essence of Fulani culture and cuisine (the largest nomadic tribe in Africa) by sharing their customs and flavors.
