Evaluation of cheese as a cultural heritage element within the scope of gastronomy tourism: The case of Artvin province

All societies living on earth have created their own unique lifestyle. Certain lifestyle patterns that have become established over time and accepted by every member of society constitute culture. The transfer of this knowledge by culture to future generations reveals the concept of heritage. Cultural heritage covers all abstract or concrete aspects of a society. Every element, from the food tastes and tastes adopted by the society, to the products used, to the tools used to cook that food, is considered a part of cultural heritage. In this study, the concepts of culture and heritage were examined and cheese was discussed as a cultural heritage element. The effect of cheese on gastronomy tourism has also been investigated. The research was approached with a quantative approach in order to reveal the cheese richness of the Artvin region, which was determined as the study area. After a literature review was conducted in this field, data was collected with a semi-structured interview form as a data collection tool from qualitative research methods, and the data was analyzed using the descriptive analysis method. It is seen that the Artvin region is quite different in taste, its production techniques and methods are continued as in the past, but these valuable cheeses are about to be forgotten in the region. The sustainability of the heritage is also aimed with this study, which is carried out with the idea that the forgotten cheeses are not only the heritage of that region or that country, but also the common property of the whole world. In the literature review conducted with a historical analysis approach, 18-22 types of cheese are mentioned. However, as a result of the study, Artvin cheeses are given in different numbers in some sources. Although 16 cheese types were encountered in this study, it is seen that although the production stages of some cheeses are the same, the methods vary during the fermentation or preservation stages. This causes different flavors to occur. It is a strong recommendation that food technicians work in this area to ensure the separation of different cheeses produced in this area.