The cooks from Bolu (a province in northwestern Turkey known for its cooks) worked in private homes, stayed there for many years at a time, and became almost members of the family. These cooks, who had been trained as apprentices in the old-fashioned system which disappeared after the fall of the Ottoman Empire, did not specialise in particular categories like modern cooks. Changing economic conditions brought about radical changes in the cooking profession. No longer did apprentices learn their trade from a young age, nor were proper cookery schools opened to take the place of this system. For a long time the traditional respect for the profession declined, and cooks no longer took pride in teaching their professions to their sons but instead encouraged them to enter other fields. So as the years went by, cooks diminished in number. Few private families could afford to employ cooks any longer, and the cooks themselves preferred jobs in factory canteens, hotels and similar institutions. The emphasis shifted from cooking small dishes for a few individuals who expected high quality, to cooking in large quantities for scores or even hundreds of people. In the process food not only lost much of its flavour and refinement, but many dishes disappeared from their repertoires altogether. At the same time, the increasing importance attached to healthy diet altered people's concepts of what and how they should eat. Particularly in the major cities, more meals were eaten out and less at home, and the fast food phenomenon of snack bars and restaurants spread rapidly in Turkey, as elsewhere throughout the world. As spaghetti, hamburgers, pizzas, pancakes and similar innovations appeared, experienced cooks able to prepare good quality Turkish food and housewives still able to make the demanding traditional pastry dishes steadily declined in number. In this book, invited experts write about the customs and traditions relating to Turkish foodways. Differing from other books on Turkish cuisine, there is a course for preparing the recipes. Cooks known for particular excellence are selected in preparing each dish.