Keşkek is the Turkish ceremonial wheat-and-meat dish whose tradition was inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2011.
The dish is a slow-cooked, pounded stew made primarily from wheat or barley and meat, commonly lamb, beef, or chicken. Its preparation is associated with communal labor and ceremonial occasions, including weddings, religious festivals, circumcisions, and funerals.
Keşkek is more than a recipe: UNESCO recognized the knowledge, preparation, and social practices surrounding the tradition. The dish is prepared in many parts of rural Turkey, often in large quantities for a community gathering. Regional names and methods vary, and related wheat-and-meat preparations are found across the Middle East, the Caucasus, Greece, and the Balkans.
Its history is also older than the 2011 inscription. A written reference appears in a copy of the medieval Turkish epic Dânişmendnâme dated to 1360. The UNESCO listing therefore records a living cultural practice rather than declaring that the food itself was newly invented or exclusively confined to Turkey.