Aylin has studied architecture and conservation of historic structures in Turkey, Italy and the UK. She practiced her profession for 15 years but her passion for food and travel eventually led her to write on food. Since 2003 she holds a weekly food column at Cumhuriyet, a prestigious national daily. She contributes to various food magazines. She has been a Jury member of the Slow Food Award 2000-2003, her nominees receiving awards. She contributes to Terra Madre and Presidia projects as the leader of the Ankara Convivium. She gave consultancy to Channel 4 documentary enacting the funeral dinner of King Midas and appeared in the Turkey episode of the ‘Diaries of a Foodie’ of National Geographic. She won the Sophie Coe award on food history in 2008 by her article “Poppy: Potent yet Frail” presented previously at the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery. She has worked as curator for the Antalya City Museum, Culinary Culture Section and currently working for another City Museum in Istanbul, again for the culinary exhibition. She recently contributed to ‘The Encyclopedia of Food Cultures of the World’, by writing the entry for Turkey, due to appear from Greenwood Publications.
Aylin chips in to help us with our special projects.