Every person’s body has its own needs, and those needs change over time. Living with type 1 diabetes since 2009 and coeliac disease since 2012 has taught me that food is never “just food”: it is medical, social, emotional, and deeply pleasurable.

As my dietary needs became stricter, eating out safely became harder. I often found myself cooking at home and carrying my meal box everywhere, because eating something without knowing its ingredients, preparation process, or possible risks could easily become a source of anxiety. Over time, I began dreaming of becoming the cook I could not find: someone who enters the kitchen with care, and makes carefully prepared plates feel effortless for others.

Kitchen Testimonies grows from that dream. Each dish is made to be clear, generous, and flavourful, with attention to both ingredients and process. Rooted in the Mediterranean and Aegean food culture I grew up with, and shaped by the European kitchens I have lived alongside, the practice brings food access, pleasure, and social sustainability to the same table.

Together with collaborators, Kitchen Testimonies works with local ingredients whenever possible, and creates food that makes special diets feel social again.

-doğa