Candied chestnuts made from chestnuts grown near Uludag Mountain in Bursa, Turkey are a specialty of the region. Originally produced at home, one confectioner was the first to successfully mass produce candied chestnuts in the early 1900s. Further improvements were made by later confectioners in Bursa, with one company in particular spreading the brand worldwide.

2. Made in Bursa : Candied
Chestnut
• Candied chestnut made from the
famous chestnuts of the skirts of
Uludag is prepared with the chestnuts
that are boiled inside the sweetened
juice. Varieties of candied chestnuts
are the characteristic sweets of Bursa.
Produced in homes for centuries, the
candied chestnuts were being
produced, as double, to sell in 1900s.
Master Confectioner Hakki Efendi of
Bursa was the first to succeed in
making the double candied chestnut
and won a gold medal with his product
at the Bursa Exposition. And later on,
Rasim Oztat, owner of the Ulus
Patisserie, improved the candied
chestnut. However, spreading the
candied chestnut all over the world as
a brand was done by the Kafkas
Patisserie

3. Turkish towels to the world:
Bursa (Özdilek Company)
• Established in 1971 in Bursa, Ozdilek is Turkey’s
largest company within the towel industry with its
production volume of 9,000 tons a year, 3,860
employees, 37 million dollars of export volume and
150 million dollars of financial turnover. When you
look at the world market, Ozdilek is among the first
10 companies.
• Besides being the largest towel and bathrobe
manufacturer in Turkey, it is one of the fastest
growing retailers of the country with its 3,860
employees in nine (9) shopping centers situated on
a 60,000 m² area. When Ozdilek was established in
1971, it had five (5) employees and two (2) Bursa-
made weaving looms and an annual production
volume of 10 tons. Today, it fulfills 18% of Turkey’s
towel production with its 9,000 tons of annual
production volume and modern integrated facilities.
Along with this success, it has become a worldwide
brand with its towels and bathrobes it exports to over
20 countries, especially to United States and with
these exports exceeding 37 million dollars.

5. İskender Kebap
• İskender kebab is one of the most famous meat foods
of northwestern Turkey and takes its name from its
inventor, İskender Efendi, who lived in Bursa in the
late 19th century. It can be assumed to be derived
from a verticalized version Cağ Kebabı, from Erzurum
.
• It is a kind of döner kebab prepared from thinly cut
grilled lamb basted with hot tomato sauce over pieces
of pita bread and generously slathered with melted
sheep butter and yogurt. Additionally, one cylindrical
köfte can be placed on top. It is commonly consumed
with şıra as a drink to aid digestion. Tomato sauce
and boiling butter are sometimes poured over the
dish, at the table
• "Kebapçı İskender" is trademarked by Yavuz
İskenderoğlu, whose family still runs the restaurant in
Bursa. This dish is available in many restaurants
throughout the country mostly under the name
"İskender kebap", "Bursa kebabı", or at times with an
alternative one made up by the serving restaurant
such as "Uludağ kebabı". from top to bottom with a
special knife.

6. The Ottoman Shadow Play and
its Turkish descendants
• The Turkish tradition of shadow play called Karagöz and
Hacivat was widespread throughout the Ottoman Empire and
featured characters representing all of the major ethnic and social
groups in that culture. It was performed by a single puppet master,
who voiced all of the characters, and accompanied by tambourine
(def). Its origins are obscure, deriving perhaps from an older
Egyptian tradition, or possibly from an Asian source.
• During the 19th century these characters were adapted to the Greek
language and
culture, Karagöz and Hacivat becoming Karagiozis and Hadjiavatis
with each of the characters assuming stereotypically Greek
personalities. This tradition thrived throughout Greece after
independence as popular entertainment for a largely adult audience,
particularly before competition arose from television. The stories did,
however, retain the period setting in the late years of the Ottoman
Empire. Karagiozis theatre has undergone some revival in recent
years, with the intended audience tending to be largely juvenile.