RIYADH: The best of Turkish food was on display this week in Riyadh as the country’s embassy held a cooking contest as part of Turkish Cuisine Week.

The week is held every year from May 21-27 to celebrate the country’s food. This year, the ministry chose manti, traditional dumplings stuffed with lamb mince that are topped with three sauces: brown butter, caramelized tomato and garlic-yogurt.

Shaimaa Nur, the spouse of Turkish envoy Fatih Ulusoy, said the week was themed on the cuisine of Hatay, which was struck earlier this year by devastating earthquakes.

Manti are made from flour, eggs, salt, and water. The mixture is kneaded into dough, rolled thin, cut into small squares, filled with lamb, onion, parsley and salt and then folded and steamed.

Four teams went head-to-head in the embassy’s competition on Wednesday. Judges included Ambassador Ulusoy and his wife, Mayada Bader, the CEO of Culinary Arts Commission, and chefs Khulood Olagi, Diyab Tut and Gökhan Tufan, the executive chef at Radisson Blu Hotel Riyadh Diplomatic Quarter.

The event was accompanied by a buffet with more examples of the nation’s cuisine.