TAKUHİ TOVMASYAN

Takuhi Tovmasyan was born in Yedikule, Istanbul in 1952. She learnt how to cook at a very young age. Her food memoir book Sofranız Şen Olsun: Ninelerimin Mutfağından Damağımda, Aklımda Kalanlar (Merry Meals: What Remains in My Mind, and Mouth from my Grannies’ Kitchen, Aras, 12th ed., 2021), which blends her experiences as a child growing up in Yedikule with her stories around her family and the kitchens, was published in 2004. She worked at Aras Publications between 1996–2016 as a typesetter in Armenian; for the same publishing house, she translated Boğos Piranyan’s Aşçının Kitabı (The Cookbook of the Chef, 2008) from Armenian into Turkish, and transcribed Vağinag Pürad’s Mükemmel Yemek Kitabı (The Perfect Cookbook, 2010), which was first published in 1926, in Turkish with Armenian letters. Tovmasyan continues to share her knowledge and experiences on food, culinary culture, memory and urban culture at various different platforms, and currently lives in between Bodrum and Istanbul.

№ ① Takuhi Tovmasyan

Takuhi Tovmasyan is a prominent writer on food culture and of memoirs, including Sofranız Şen Olsun: Ninelerimin Mutfağından Damağımda, Aklımda Kalanlar or Merry Meals: What Remains in My Mind, and Mouth from My Grannies’ Kitchen. She is a storyteller who nurtures both our intellect and emotions. She participated in the Hrant Dink Foundation’s Kayseri Dumplings Festival on October 26, 2019. We have talked with her about memory and the festival.