Chef Ebru Baybara Demir
Yale Residency
March 24 – May 1, 2025
In Collaboration with the Council on Middle East Studies
As the second Yale Global Table fellow, award-winning Chef Ebru Baybara Demir visited campus for a five-day residency and shared insights from her extensive work. She visited with students and faculty and spent two days training Yale Hospitality staff on how to recreate traditional Turkish dishes into plant-forward, sustainable recipes.
Food as a Tool for Change
When Demir realized her home city of Mardin, Turkey, lacked a tourism economy, she convinced women there to open their homes and cook for tourists – an idea that spurred the founding of her Cercis Murat Konaği restaurant, which she set up in one of Mardin’s several abandoned, ancient buildings.
After war broke out in neighboring Syria and refugees began streaming into Turkey, Demir founded the Soil to Plate Agricultural Cooperative to create opportunities for disadvantaged women and refugees. Among other products, the co-op is focused on olive oil and Aleppo soap production, as well as revitalizing the growth and usage of drought-resistant sorgül, the oldest wheat in Mesopotamia.
Following a devastating earthquake on February 6, 2023, that leveled many parts of Turkey, she brought together a group of local chefs and volunteers to feed disaster victims. Soon, the effort grew to serve more than 70,000 a day, plus 10,000 meals for children in schools. Demir formalized the effort into a soup kitchen, Kitchen of the Heart, which continues to serve earthquake victims who still do not have adequate access to fresh food.
To ensure the future of food, we must protect our [bio]diversity. Geography is the most beautiful destiny.
Changing Agricultural and Food Sourcing
Food is central to Demir’s life, and in 2012, it became a way for her to cope after her five-year-old daughter was diagnosed with a brain tumor linked to environmental toxins. She directed her focus to improving agricultural and food sourcing practices in her region. As both a mother and a chef, she began researching soil health, ancient seeds, and farming methods, questioning where her food came from. She now leads numerous businesses and initiatives dedicated to preserving traditional agriculture and promoting environmental and human health.