The formation of culinary culture through the interaction of religious beliefs: E case study of Hatay province

Considering the culinary concept, among the first impressions that come to our minds are to see it as part of the compulsory vital requirements. However; with the shallowness of the perspective, it has been seen that the cuisine is a phenomenon that has a culture of its own, adorned with traditions, shaped by habits, restricted by beliefs or changed form. The fact that the culinary has a meaning beyond nutrition is a requirement of its nature. One of the foundations of the main factors affecting the cuisine is religious beliefs. The share of the faith in the production, harvest, processing, storage, preparation and presentation of food cannot be ignored. In this sense, the culinary can also assume a symbolic boundary between people with different beliefs. At the sametime the unifying aspect of the culinary can fulfill the task of bringing people with different beliefs together in the common denominations in daily life, especially on special days and nights. This aspect can be seen in Hatay, the city of tolerance and civilizations. The fact that our research has been explained with examples form Hatay region is due to the fact that this geography hosts various beliefs. The daily eating habits, food-oriented rituals, celebrations, special days and nights religious beliefs were examined; interactions were tried to be determined in accordance with the subject of the research. Muslims, Christians, Jews and various denominations of these beliefs were the subjects of this research. The level of correlations between faith and culinary was tried to be determined by the way of applying a questionnaire to the people living here. Based upon the information received in 2019 from Turkish Statistical Institute, target population of the study has been determined as the citizens living within the boundaries of Hatay province. The culinary culture perception levels of the participants were measured through the interaction of gastronomy and religious belief. It can be said that this people belonging to all these religious form a common mosaic, although they are different, they acquire a culture of living together and they meet in common ground with the culinary cultures. As the sensitivity of belief increases, nutritional habits increase in environmental effects and sensitive behaviors are taken in consumption of marginal food; for example in Muslims and Jews, a significant result has been reachedbetween the thesis "I'm selective when consuming seafood and the religion variable. Key words: Religions, Gastronomy, Hatay, Culture, Culinar