In the scope of the 1st Şanlıurfa İsot Festival (URFES), which held its first two contests in September with the Şanlıurfa Metropolitan Municipality, the third contest was organized around "isot," a Turkish dried chili pepper, and was attended by 199 local women.
A total of 37 different plates featuring the Turkish spice were presented to the press and guests before being served to the public.In the aftermath of the event, an isot contest was held at the Şanlıurfa Metropolitan Municipality Kitchen Museum.
At the event, contestants, competing for the monetary prize to be awarded for the ranking dishes, gave eclectic names to their dishes, such as "Antibiotic," "Let it be my poison" and "More than hot." Jurors graded the plates by evaluating the color, taste, aroma and salt content of the peppers.
During the evaluation process, it was seen that the jurors experienced difficulty in coping with the level of spice and were offered yogurt, baklava, bread and fruit to soothe their taste buds and be able to continue tasting the dishes.
Throughout the event, the Şanlıurfa Sıra Gecesi team (a group of musicians and dancers performing traditional folk songs and dances) performed local folk songs while the traditional raw spicy meatballs, çiğ köfte, was prepared and served to the public.
At the event, Şanlıurfa Mayor Nihat Çiftçi stated that isot is an officially registered product of Şanlıurfa, adding that the festival will contribute to the city's tourism.
