Çiğdem Alagök, mentioned as one of the first graduates of Turkey's first gastronomy department by the industry magazine Foodinlife, shares 59 delicious recipes for seafood lovers in her book 'Apiko' published by Alfa Yayınları. Describing her book, she makes it a must-have:
Apiko emerged in my mind as a seafood recipe book. I wanted to gather recipes derived from the products of the sea, which I call blue food, regardless of their color, based on my past experiences and the instincts born from the culinary profession, which is a kind of culinary detective work.
Stories emerged, and then I intertwined the recipes with those stories.
Yes, it's a recipe book, but how do I describe it; it also contains the diary of a time traveler. I wholeheartedly greet my profession and all my colleagues who have enabled this journey.
Our 2007 graduate Çiğdem Alagök, who started her journey in the Gastronomy and Culinary Arts Department in Turkey for the first time under the auspices of the Fine Arts Faculty initiated by Tuğrul Şavkay and Bedrettin Dalan, expressed her words in an interview with Dünya Gazetesi, saying,'Going to Yeditepe University was my greatest luck." Upon the recommendation of Bedrettin Dalan, she pursued an MBA with a marketing scholarship. She herself believes that "a good chef should also be a good manager and salesperson.'
In 'Apiko' while learning the intricacies of cooking delicious fish dishes, you embark on a delightful and heartwarming journey into Çiğdem Alagök's life. In an interview with Dünya Gazetesi, Çiğdem Alagök said, 'I think our memories consist of smells and tastes from the past. Among the debates of whether time travel is possible or not, smells and tastes take over the human soul and leave it at the door of an apartment it has even forgotten. You smell something and find yourself in your grandmother's kitchen apron. Let me stay in the taste dimension of time travel by leaving the smells to the experts, and let me take you on this journey as much as my tongue can manage,' taking readers on an autobiographical journey among fish recipes.
Describing herself as an advocate for the ecosystem and sustainability, Çiğdem Alagök believes that blue foods will be one of the fundamental sources of sustainable living and that the future liesthrough the kitchen.
