After my ''Baker Koço'' article, I reached such precious photos that I needed to write a second article on the subject. Hereby, I also share the information I compiled from the comments made on my first post.
First of all, it is important to remind that Baker Koço Vasilyadis and Baker Koço Dimidis are different people, and before them there is Baker Mihal. Let's start with the photo I came across while researching our first baker Mihal.
It was a joy to learn about Baker Vasil that he had a seagull egg collection story just like in Sait Faik's stories.
''Baker Vasil was a friendly gentleman. In the winter, he would not go to coffee house, he would only have coffee from Korneli, sitting with his close friends, Taso and Semih, and chatting in the oven. The island children were his crew, of course. It was time to spawn the seagull, it would go up to the top of the island, the seagull would collect the eggs, get it money, or buy a ring of bagel. Baker Vasil made and sold sweat yeast bread for easter with those eggs. ''
Our last baker, Koço, is engraved in the memories as a very cute personality, with a white hair, slightly chunky, rounded belly. Let's continue with the following memories that will enable us to get to know Mr. Koço more closely.
Gülercek Erencek: '' Mr. Koço was a very gentleman. I was very young when I opened my pharmacy. One memory I cannot forget; when I pass by the oven at an hour close to iftar on a Ramadan evening, he told me that my daughter you are fasting, I made a delicious celery soup and want you to offer. We were all his loyal customers. For the 60s, I still remember those beautiful people with respect. ''
İsmail İlanlı: '' He gave bagels every morning to my father and me, and he did not receive any money. My father was the driver of the garbage truck. He retired in 1980 and worked in Burgaz Island for more than 20 years. ''
Türkan Yalçınkaya Kaygusuz: "I was very young when I went to his oven, I think I was 6-7 years old, but I remember him very well, he was the hero of my childhood, he would do everything daily. He would distribute the rest to the children so that they would not be thrown away. And he would do it so gently that the kids would feel as if they were his most unique customer. It really would be like that, the children who tasted the long bread crumbs of his puffs would take their families to Baker Koço the next day.''
Ayfer Gül Kanat: '' Uncle Koço sometimes needed parsley.I would run home and collect parsley from our garden and bring it to him. He would give me some of those grape puffs that smelled of good gum. ''
The unforgettable tastes of Baker Koço:
(With Grape) Ponchik
Baguette
Puff Pastry
Sesame Oil Bagel
Pain d'epice
Dry sugar coated cage biscuit
Trays sent from home cooked on wood fire
Stuffed (Dolma) tray made on Sunday
In comparison with today's version, Koço's oven:
Orhan Türker - From Antigoni to Burgaz Island
This book, which I gave as a source in my previous article, contains valuable information about the tradespeople of Antigoni. There was a paragraph that caught my attention while reviewing it again.
`` Ms. Tina Vlaçoğlu-Iliadu, who went to the summerhouse in Antigoni since her childhood and knew the evolution of the island since the 1960s, provided information to shed light on the next generation of researchers.
It really does. Endless thanks to everyone who shed light on cultural history in Burgaz Island.
Let's continue to research; will we be able to access the photos of Baker Vasil and Baker Koço?
To see the location of the oven on the maps:
Photos and the story of the Baker Vasil is taken from the Facebook Burgazada ReUnion meeting 2012 group.
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