Turkish Airlines has begun serving special bread made of Einkorn and Emmer Wheats, considered the oldest types in Anatolia – the cradle of the most ancient civilizations. ‘The Oldest Bread’ debuted on a flight to New York JFK Airport
and will feature on the airline’s in-flight service menu, allowing passengers to indulge in traditional Turkish culture and cuisine.

Oldest bread in business class

While ‘The Oldest Bread’ is new to Turkish Airlines
‘ in-flight menu, it is well-established in Turkish history. The new menu item was officially launched onboard flight TK3 from Istanbul to New York on September 22, 2024, operated by an eight-year-old Boeing 777. The bread will be available in business class on intercontinental flights.

With Turkish Airlines being the most internationally connected airline
, there will undoubtedly be several routes where passengers can try the bread onboard. It is prepared fresh by the airline’s Istanbul-based catering company, Turkish DO&CO, and served heated in a special bag with butter and olive oil before meal service.

Turkish Airlines oldest bread

Photo: Turkish Airlines

The Oldest Bread further received consultancy from award-winning Turkish culinary historian Ömür Akkor and academic Çetin Şenkul. Speaking about the addition of the new menu item, Turkish Airlines Chairman of the Board and the Executive Committee Prof. Ahmet Bolat said,

“As the flag carrier that offers the world’s finest flavors to its guests and receiving numerous accolades for it from world-renowned organizations, we are pleased to introduce our business class travelers to the world’s oldest bread grown from the reproduction of ancient wheat discovered in excavations in the Anatolia region.”

“With this bread, traditional to Turkish cuisine and significant to global culinary history, we aim to blend past and present together on our inflight guest experiences. We hope that our new menu item will be appreciated by our guests as we continue our award-winning leadership in the field of inflight dining.”

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Showcasing Turkish history

As the Oldest Bread debuted onboard, the airline premiered a film shot in the Göbeklitepe, Karahantepe, and Euphrates River regions with support from the country’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism. The new menu item is a Turkish Airlines project that showcases the history of Anatolian agriculture, which began approximately 12,000 years ago in the Taş Tepeler region.

The region is considered one of the centers of the Neolithic Revolution, where human communities first transitioned from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle to a settled, agricultural society. Wheat was domesticated in Taş Tepeler about 12,000 years ago, reshaping nutritional and social structures.

Turkish Airlines oldest bread

Photo: Turkish Airlines

Turkish Airlines’ in-flight menu includes flavors from traditional Turkish cuisine and world cuisines. At least 80% of the products used in the menus are sourced from local producers and then prepared fresh by expert chefs each day in a boutique production style. In the 2024 Skytrax World Airline Awards, Turkish Airlines was awarded the best business class onboard catering.

Passengers can sample the Oldest Bread

on business class flights
to the US and several other intercontinental destinations. According to data from Cirium, an aviation analytics company, Turkish Airlines currently flies to 14 US destinations.

Its top destination is New York JFK
, with up to 28 weekly flights each way, followed by Washington-Dulles, Los Angeles, Miami, and Chicago-O’Hare, with 14 weekly flights each.

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