Çorum food is more than a cuisine; it carries memory, belonging and longing for home. On roasted chickpeas, İskilip dolma and the psychology of ritual meals.
When someone from Çorum living in Ankara opens a packet of leblebi (roasted chickpeas) sent from home, they are not just opening a snack; they are also opening the smell of their childhood, the mornings of religious holidays and the handful of leblebi that came out of their grandfather's pocket. Food is one of the oldest and most powerful carriers of human memory. In this respect Çorum food is more than a cuisine: it is part of an identity, a sense of belonging and a memory passed down through generations. Çorum leblebi and İskilip dolma (the stuffed dish of the İskilip district) are registered with geographical indications; preparations for Hıdırellez (the traditional spring festival), and wedding and holiday tables, are still living rituals. In this article I will discuss what is known about Çorum's food culture, and then the relationship between food and memory, identity and emotional well-being.
Figures and Facts: What Does Çorum Food Represent?
The concrete information we have about Çorum's culinary culture is as follows:
- Products with geographical indications: According to the geographical indication products catalogue of the Central Black Sea Development Agency (OKA), Çorum leblebi and İskilip dolma are registered with geographical indications. According to local and national news reports, the number of registered products in the İskilip district has reached 10, and the number across the province 31.
- Ritual tables: According to the Çorum Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism, preparations for Hıdırellez begin two days in advance; new clothes are bought, and börek (savoury pastry), sarma (stuffed vine leaves) and boiled wheat are prepared. Hıdırlık, Erzurum Dede, Sıklık Gorge and Bağlar are among the places most visited on this day.
- A shared fabric: Çorum's cuisine and traditions (Hıdırellez, leblebi, keşkek, a slow-cooked wheat and meat dish) share a common fabric with Central Anatolia.
- A geography in between: According to the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Plan of the Çorum Governorship, the province lies both in the Central Black Sea section of the Black Sea Region and in the Central Kızılırmak section of the Central Anatolia Region. The northern districts fall within the Black Sea transitional climate, while the central and southern districts fall within the Central Anatolian continental climate.
- A population attached to its hometown: According to OKA's 2021 report based on TÜİK (the Turkish Statistical Institute), Çorum ranks third in Turkey, at 94.4%, for the proportion of older people living in the province where they were born. On the other hand, according to the Ankara Chamber of Commerce's compilation, 442,275 people registered in Çorum live in Ankara.
The limits of the information
No survey or academic study could be found that measures Çorum's food culture, the place of cooking in daily life or the regional sense of belonging among people from Çorum. The figures on geographical indications come from news sources. The assessments below are therefore based on general psychological knowledge about food and memory and on these cultural data; they do not present any measured finding about the relationship of people from Çorum with food.
A Sociological Reading: Çorum Food and Regional Identity
A dish does not become the symbol of a city by itself; it takes time, ritual, trade and stories.
Leblebi as a symbol. Leblebi is one of the first things that comes to mind when Çorum is mentioned. Symbols like this are a shorthand for belonging to a place. For someone from Çorum, saying "I'm from Çorum" and saying "I'm from the home of leblebi" often mean the same thing. Registration as a geographical indication also gives this symbol official recognition.
Dolma as a heritage that lives in the home. Dishes such as İskilip dolma, which require effort, take hours to prepare and are usually made for crowded tables, are not just recipes; they are also a form of working together, hospitality and family solidarity. Dishes like these live on mostly through knowledge passed down by women from generation to generation.
A cuisine in between. The cuisine of a province placed in official documents in both the Black Sea and Central Anatolia also carries this in-between quality. This can be read not as identity confusion but as a rich culture in which two fabrics live side by side. To the question "Are we from the Black Sea or from Central Anatolia?", the table often gives the calmest answer: a bit of both.
Rituals and community. Hıdırellez, weddings, religious holidays and memorial gatherings are moments when the community comes together and remembers who belongs to whom. Food is at the centre of these rituals.
The rhythm of the seasons. Preparing for winter, spring festivals and harvest time set the rhythm of the kitchen in Çorum, as in many parts of Anatolia. Tables that change with the seasons remind people that time is cyclical and that spring will come after a hard winter. This rhythm allows communities to come together around a shared calendar.
A Psychological Reading: Food, Memory and Emotions
The bond between food and emotions is one of the most basic bonds in human psychology. In infancy, being fed and being loved are intertwined; this relationship continues in some form throughout life.
Sensory memory: how do smell and taste bring back the past?
Smell and taste are among the senses that bring memories back most vividly. The smell of a dish can take a person back years, to a particular kitchen, to the side of a particular person. These memories often come not just as an image but together with the emotion of that moment: security, warmth, holiday excitement. This is why a plate of food from home can change a person's mood in a short time.
Nostalgia: protective or isolating?
Psychological research shows that nostalgia often serves positive functions: it can help a person feel more connected, feel their life is more meaningful, and feel that there is continuity between their past and their present. Cooking a dish from one's mother's recipe during a difficult period can give a person the sense that "this is where I come from; I have roots".
However, nostalgia does not always give strength. When the past becomes a way of escaping the present, or keeps the pain of what has been lost constantly alive, it can be isolating. Let us say an older woman who has lost her husband stops making dolma because no one eats it any more. The dish that was once a symbol of love and togetherness now reminds her of absence. In this case, food becomes part of the grieving process.
The hometown table far from home
For someone living in a big city or abroad, food from home is a place where longing is both expressed and soothed. A parcel from home, a jar of tomato paste, a bag of leblebi; for a moment it shortens the distance. Homesickness often arrives together with a taste or a smell. For people from Çorum living away, making food from home during religious holidays and teaching these dishes to their children is one of the most natural ways of passing their identity on to the next generation.
A recipe carries not only the ingredients but also the person who taught it to us, the sound of that kitchen and who we were at that table.
The labour behind the table
Behind crowded holiday and wedding tables there is often labour lasting several days, and most of it is taken on by women. Rolling vine leaves, rolling out dough and cooking huge pots of food are on the one hand an expression of love and belonging; on the other hand they can be an invisible and tiring burden. The question "Who's going to make the dolma this year?" turns into a silent expectation in some families. When the person who cooks is not appreciated, or cannot voice their tiredness, the table can stop being a source of joy and turn into an obligation. For rituals to live on in a healthy way, it is important that the work is shared, that the younger generation is involved in the kitchen, and that the effort of the person preparing the food is openly recognised. In this way tradition stops being a duty carried on one person's shoulders and becomes a heritage the family keeps alive together.
The difference between comfort food and emotional eating
Finding comfort in food is human. Sometimes, however, food can become the only way of coping with emotions. Eating without hunger in moments of sadness, anxiety, loneliness or anger, then feeling guilty, and this turning into a cycle, is called emotional eating. The difference between the comfort provided by food from home and emotional eating lies in whether food is a means of creating connection and meaning, or the only way of escaping emotions.
Place attachment and the table
In environmental psychology, place attachment is defined as the emotional, cognitive and behavioural bond between a person and a place (Scannell and Gifford, 2010). This bond is formed not only with the physical space but also with the people, rituals and habits of that place. Food is a portable part of place attachment: even when a person moves away from their hometown, they can carry a piece of that place with them on their table. For the large proportion of the population who were born in Çorum and have grown old there, the table is the daily expression of a lifelong bond.
Practical Suggestions for Individuals and Families
- Record the recipes. Listen to your elders' recipes together with the stories that go with them, and write them down or record them. This both strengthens the bond between generations and makes older family members feel valued.
- Cook together with children. Giving children a task in the kitchen on religious holidays or special days helps them embrace their cultural identity not as an obligation but as an enjoyable experience.
- Keep rituals flexible. Maintaining traditional tables is valuable; but adapting rituals when circumstances change is also healthy. A small family meal can take the place of a crowded table.
- Approach food gently during grief. After losing a loved one, making their dishes can sometimes be painful and sometimes healing. Give yourself time; when you are ready, these dishes can become a way of remembering.
- Observe your relationship with food. If you notice that you eat more when you feel sad, anxious or lonely, try other ways of expressing your feelings too: a walk, a phone call to a friend, writing.
- Create a small corner of home far from home. Cooking food from home on particular days and sharing it with your new circle both soothes longing and helps you form bonds where you live.
When Should You Seek Professional Support?
The emotional bond formed with food is mostly an enriching experience. However, it may be helpful to seek support from a professional in the following situations:
- If food has become almost the only way of coping with sadness or anxiety,
- If you constantly feel guilt, shame or loss of control because of your eating behaviour,
- If longing for home has for a long time prevented you from forming relationships and getting on with daily life where you live,
- If, after the loss of a loved one, grief continues to affect your life deeply even though months have passed,
- If marked changes in appetite, sleep problems and loss of enjoyment occur together.
If there are signs in eating behaviour such as extreme restriction, binge eating or vomiting, it is important to be assessed by a doctor and a mental health professional. If feelings of hopelessness have turned into thoughts of harming yourself, call 112 (emergency services) without delay.
How Are Food, Memory and Belonging Addressed in Therapy?
Individual therapy can help a person understand the relationship they have built with food, with their hometown and with their past. Sessions can address the following areas:
- The emotional eating cycle: Noticing which emotions trigger the urge to eat and developing new ways of coping with these emotions.
- Grief and remembrance: Making sense of grief through the dishes and rituals connected with people who have been lost.
- Belonging and identity: Talking about the feeling of being caught between the hometown and the city one lives in; being able to carry two belongings together.
- The function of nostalgia: Understanding whether longing for the past comes from a place that enriches the present or one that escapes it.
Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) offers a structured way of noticing thought and behaviour patterns associated with emotional eating. Acceptance and commitment-based approaches can help a person make room for difficult feelings such as longing and grief, rather than fighting them, and live in line with their values.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Çorum foods have geographical indications?
According to the Central Black Sea Development Agency's catalogue, Çorum leblebi and İskilip dolma are registered with geographical indications. According to news sources, the number of registered products across the province has reached 31, and in İskilip it has reached 10.
Why does the smell of a dish bring back such powerful memories?
Smell and taste are among the senses that bring memories back together with their emotional side. This is why the smell of a dish can take a person not only to a scene from the past but also to the feeling of security, warmth or excitement of that moment.
Does food from home increase or reduce longing?
It can do both. Most of the time, food from home soothes longing and gives a person a sense of rootedness. However, if the person is lonely where they live or has recently suffered a loss, the same dish can deepen longing and sadness.
Is eating food from home when I'm sad emotional eating?
Not always. Finding comfort in a favourite dish from time to time is natural. One can speak of emotional eating when food becomes the only way of coping with emotions, is eaten frequently without hunger and is followed by feelings of guilt.
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Eda Erkan Alapala
Klinik Psikolog. İstanbul Kent Üniversitesi Klinik Psikoloji Tezli Yüksek Lisans mezunu; bilişsel davranışçı terapi, çocuk merkezli oyun terapisi ve çocuk-ergen psikoterapisi alanlarında eğitimlerini tamamlamıştır.
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