Abstract

Food is utterly essential to human existence and has an important role to play in social and cultural events as well. The study of food and eating has a long history in social sciences, specifically in folklore and anthropology, beginning in the nineteenth century. This article concentrates on a particular food, wheat and examines its significance in the Turkish culture. Since wheat has both cultural and social aspects in the Turkish culture, the study mainly focuses on the ritual called diÅŸ buÄŸdayı or diÅŸ hediÄŸi, thus, “teething ceremony”, an important biological development of a baby in the Turkish culture. It deals with how the wheat meal is prepared or presented; how the ritual is performed and celebrated; and what functions of the event in the Turkish culture are.

Key words: Wheat, tooth, teething, ritual, Turkish tradition.