Tuesday, 18 February 2025
Culture of Konya Wedding Meal

Culture of Konya Wedding Meal

WEDDING RICE is the most important element of KONYA culture and gastronomy. It is the sunnah of our Prophet (PBUH) to provide food at weddings. Of course, in addition to its spiritual aspect, it has a special place and importance for Konya with its magnificent taste and integrity. 


Preparations start during the week before going to wedding pilaf. Stomach can be relieved by drinking vinegar. Before and after pilaf, people talk about and discuss about the ceremony like a football match. Shoemakers have acquired the custom of hitting the table with a spoon and wanting extra plates to the table. They are famous in the city for eating too much and torturing cooks and waiters, and they set an example for many other people.


There is no position of authority at the rice table. Everyone eats the same food from the same bowl and experiences the same excitement and same pleasure. At the dinner table, any other worries are forgotten, and the focus is on the meal. 


Since Konya is an agricultural city, pilafs used to be cooked between 08:00 and 12:00 in the morning, but today it is preferred at any time (except in rural areas).


Young people of marriageable age or their parents are asked not when they will make the wedding ceremony, but when we will eat their rice. 


Wedding tables… Service usually begins after all the guests sit at the tables. At crowded wedding ceremonies, guests waiting around the table expect the previous table to be full as soon as possible, and their appetites increase even more. As soon as they sit at the table, they help the waiter clear the table and open a new table because of their impatience.


As a starter to the meal, “Yayla” soup (a kind of soup prepared with yoghurt and rice) is served and everyone starts eating from the same bowl. Although many people find it strange to eat from the same bowl, its abundance and taste are of special importance for Konya. The bread served with it is only consumed with soups. (Bread is not consumed with rice) 


• RICE WITH MEAT is given second. Guests who are hungry enough are served extra pilaf until they are full. The fact that the pilaf is granular and offers a wonderful taste with its meat increases the demand even more.


 • SEMOLINA DESSERT is the first dessert on the Konya wedding pilaf menu and for those who are unfamiliar with the menu, it means the end, but it is later learned that another legendary soup will follow. While dessert is served last in many menus, in the Konya wedding pilaf menu it is served after the first pilaf. In recent years, it has also been consumed with ice cream.


• OKRA SOUP; In addition to its appetizing properties, it is the crown jewel and legend of Konya wedding meals with its taste and warmth, soothing the stomach and its authentic preparation. It may not be produced in the region, but Konya consumes the most among the regions where it is produced. Plenty of okra flowers are dried within a week, arranged one by one, and then sorted one by one after boiling. Each one has its own story. Maybe that’s why its value is accepted as GREEN GOLD among us.


 • 2th RICE WITH MEAT is placed on the table as the last main course, and if there is demand, a new one is added. Some elderly people willingly eat it as plain rice without meat, combining it with zerde dessert.

• ZERDE DESSERT is served with the last drinks, indicating that the menu has come to an end. And it is preferred plain. 


• COMPOTE & SOFT DRINK: Compotes, which were previously naturally boiled and prepared, have been replaced by optional cold drinks.


 • SUBMARINE; Its wellknown feature in Konya is that it is a way of presenting meat to the special guests of wedding owners by placing meat both on and under the rice plate to honor their guests. In the past, it was served to wedding guests by simply putting twice as much meat under the rice, so as not to offend other guests. This is the reality of talking about SUBMARINE in a non-marine geography. 


• PRAYER; We pray to the God, who has blessed us with such a menu. Prayers are made at every table for the wedding owners, those who prepare and serve the food, and for the families of the young couples who are getting married, to ensure that their peace and happiness remain permanent. There should be one coordinator at each table. He manages the table like an orchestra conductor and informs the waiter of the table’s demands. Those who eat with appetite have nothing to say, but for those who don’t have an appetite, you will remember that you are at the Konya wedding pilaf table when you hear the classic sayings like “Come on, just take two more spoons, do not waste”, etc.


In the old Konya wedding customs, when guests were invited, they were invited to the weddings without anyone being discriminated, saying “Anybody who can hold a spoon is welcome!”. Everyone carries their own wooden spoon in their pocket and eats their food with their own spoon.


WEDDING TIRID is a type of meal consisting of roasted yoghurt, sumac onion, sauce or vegetables on dry bread, prepared by the wedding cook before the wedding, according to the ingredients he has. 


KAPAMA; In Old Konya weddings, in line with the possibilities and preferences, the way the wedding pilaf is served with whole meat instead of roasted meat is called KAPAMA. ‘’ Nowadays, the interest in Konya Wedding Pilafs is increasing day by day and it is in demand in many organizations. 

LAST WORDS; With thanks and gratitude to our valuable chefs who bequeathed this culture to us, especially Piri Âteşbâz-ı Velî, to our ANCESTORS who contributed to its survival from the Ottomans to the present day.

Chef Tayyar Sami ATİKER