The ‘chickpea fermented Mediterranean island bread’ from Cretan cuisine is available at BESAŞ dealers.

Bursa Metropolitan Municipality subsidiary BESAŞ is now bringing the ‘chickpea sourdough Mediterranean island bread’, which is produced according to its original recipes, to the tables after the breads made from ancestral seeds of spelt wheat and black wheat.

BESAŞ, a subsidiary of Bursa Metropolitan Municipality that provides healthy and reliable food to citizens at affordable prices, is also expanding its product range every day. BESAŞ, which introduces approximately 200,000 breads to the people of Bursa daily, is now offering the ‘chickpea sourdough Mediterranean island bread’, produced in accordance with its original recipe, under the theme ‘From Island to Motherland.’ Collaborating with the Giritya Mudanya Cretan and Yanya Culture and Solidarity Association, BESAŞ produced the chickpea sourdough bread, an essential cultural piece of Cretan immigrants, according to the recipes. A promotional meeting for the new product was held, where attendees had the opportunity to taste the special flavor.

Bursa Metropolitan Municipality Deputy Mayor Mustafa Orkun Gazioğlu stated that BESAŞ is serving the people of Bursa by constantly increasing product quality and diversity. Emphasizing that chickpea sourdough bread is an important cultural richness, Gazioğlu expressed their aim to promote such cultural diversities to all of Bursa and bring them together with the people of Bursa.

BESAŞ General Manager İbrahim Alpay Demirtaş expressed that chickpea sourdough bread is an important flavor from his childhood. He explained that the production was carried out in cooperation with BESAŞ’s food engineers, adhering to the original recipe learned from the elders of Cretan immigrants. “This project excites us a lot. We want to preserve our values and prevent them from being forgotten. I believe that the chickpea sourdough bread, which Cretan immigrants love, will also be appreciated by all the people of Bursa. I thank everyone who contributed to this project. May it be beneficial,” he said.

Association President Zehra Nur Biricik recalled that elders frequently made chickpea sourdough bread, stating that it holds an important place in the culture of Cretan immigrants. Expressing their desire to pass down the elders’ recipe from generation to generation, Biricik said, “We started working in this direction with BESAŞ. As an association, we researched how the bread is made and spoke with those who are knowledgeable about this. We shared the recipes they provided with BESAŞ. As a result of the work of the food engineers, a beautiful product emerged. We want to share this flavor with all of Bursa. I thank everyone involved.”

The promotional meeting for the new product was attended by Bursa Metropolitan Municipality Deputy Mayor Mustafa Orkun Gazioğlu, Mudanya Mayor Deniz Dalgıç, Foreign Relations Department Head Pınar Işıkyıldız, BESAŞ General Manager İbrahim Alpay Demirtaş, Culture AŞ General Manager Yankı İçöz, Giritya Mudanya Cretan and Yanya Culture and Solidarity Association President Zehra Nur Biricik, council members, municipal bureaucrats, and citizens.