Güzelyurt Mantı & Gözleme Class

The Güzelyurt Mantı & Gözleme Class is a focused hands-on cooking session run by Karamanlı Konağı, a restored Ottoman stone mansion in the centre of Güzelyurt village (historically known as Gelveri), approximately 30 kilometres south of Aksaray in Central Turkey. Karamanlı Konağı has been welcoming guests for several years and is one of the few venues in the Aksaray province that offers structured cooking instruction to day visitors and overnight guests alike. The three-to-four-hour session concentrates on two Central Anatolian staples with deep roots in the Karamanlı tradition: mantı and gözleme. Mantı are tiny hand-folded dumplings — participants mix and rest the dough, roll it to the required thinness on a wooden board, then cut, fill with spiced minced meat or vegetables, and fold each piece into the characteristic pinched shape. Gözleme is a thin flatbread sealed around a filling of white cheese, potato, or spinach and cooked directly on a convex sacaç (cast-iron griddle) placed over a flame. Both preparations are embedded in the Karamanlı culinary heritage — the food traditions of Anatolian Greek communities who lived in this area for centuries before the 1923 population exchange, and whose influence remains visible in Güzelyurt's stone architecture and kitchen practices. The class is kept intentionally small, typically two to six participants, so that everyone spends time at the workbench. At the close of the session all prepared dishes are served together: mantı with village yoghurt, homemade tomato sauce, and chilli-browned butter; gözleme straight from the griddle with a pot of çay. The price of ₺500-800 per person includes all ingredients and the tasting meal. Bookings are placed directly with Karamanlı Konağı by telephone (+90 382 451 2080), with at least two days' advance notice requested. Instruction is primarily in Turkish with basic English available from the host family.