The importance of wheat in teething celebration in Turkish culture

Abstract

Food is very 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 di buğdayı or di hediği, 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.