Pickles are an indispensable part of Turkish cuisine and one village in northwestern Türkiye strives to keep them on the tables across the country, as well as next to dishes of consumers across the world through exports.
Gedelek, which is now a rural neighborhood of the Orhangazi district of Bursa, the former capital of the Ottoman Empire, traces its history to the reign of Selim I, a 16th-century ruler who established it as one of several villages generating income for one of his foundations in Istanbul. In modern times, it became more famous as a major pickle producer in the country, a tradition going back about seven decades. Every household in the village, which has a population of 2,000 people, has at least one member working in pickle production.
The majority of the village work in 50 workshops across Gedelek, producing pickles from some 60,000 tons of produce yearly. Erol Hatırlı, chair of Orhangazi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said Gedelek pickles has an export volume of $10 million yearly, to countries including Germany, United Kingdom, South Africa, Qatar and Kuwait. Shipments amounting to TL 250 million (around $14 million) are delivered to domestic markets. Since 2017, Gedelek pickles also boast a geographical indication (GI) mark, a type of intellectual property right that identifies a good as belonging to a specific territory.
Workshops are busier nowadays in Gedelek, ahead of winter, a time when Turks traditionally turn to their pickle stocks. Indeed, the period between May and October is the busiest for the village, especially for women, who make up 80% of the workforce.
Pickles are mainly made of cucumbers, cabbage and peppers hauled in from nearby districts and provinces, from Yenişehir of Bursa, to Çanakkale, Balıkesir, Manisa, Kütahya and Afyonkarahisar.
Mehmet Dönmez, mukhtar of Gedelek, said their population swells during the pickle production period, especially in the summer, with people arriving for work from other provinces. “They produce their pickles here and take pickles with them for sale in Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir. In Istanbul, our village supplies almost all of the pickle demand of the city,” Dönmez said.
Dönmez credits the taste of the pickles produced in Gedelek as being the primary choice for consumers. Pickles owe this taste to local water resources, according to Dönmez. “We have special water, almost God’s gift to us, here. It has high calcium and mineral values and is ideal for pickle production,” he said. Along with traditional pepper and cucumber pickles, Dönmez said their garlic and okra pickles are very popular. “Okra pickles are used in meals and garlic pickles are sought after for their healthy ingredients. People may avoid eating garlic due to its odor but in pickle form, it does not emit an odor,” he said.
