Gebze Holiday Bun Description and Distinctive Features of the Product: Gebze Bayram Çöreği is a traditional baked good made from a blend of wheat flour, rye flour, yeast, water, sourdough, margarine, anise, salt, white powdered sugar, cinnamon, cloves, and mastic. Gebze Bayram Çöreği, traditionally made in Gebze for many years, originates from the customs of the settled Turkmen community known as Manavlar in the area. Today, it is also commonly called the "parmaklı" (finger-shaped) çörek. This pastry is exclusively prepared on the eve of religious festivals. It is often bought in large amounts, not only to serve guests at home but also to be given as a gift when visiting others. A notable characteristic of this çörek is the use of anise. Furthermore, the unique production technique specific to the region requires considerable expertise, particularly to create its distinctive shape. For these reasons, it is strongly linked to its geographical origin. Production Stages of Gebze Bayram Çöreği: 1. Dough preparation: Wheat flour, rye flour, and water are combined and mixed in a dough mixer for 7 minutes. Then, ground anise, cloves, cinnamon, mastic, margarine, powdered sugar, and yeast are added to the flour and water blend and mixed further. Approximately five minutes before completing the total 15-minute mixing time, sourdough starter and finally salt are incorporated and mixed thoroughly. 2. Resting the dough: Once mixing is complete, the dough mixer is turned off and the dough is allowed to rest at room temperature (between 22 to 24 °C), depending on the season, for a period ranging from 20 to 45 minutes. This resting phase, locally known as "hamur yatar" (dough rests), finishes before the dough is portioned into 270 g pieces using a kestart machine. These pieces then rest for an additional 15 minutes. 3. Shaping: The rested dough is pressed onto a cutting device, where an indentation of up to 8 cm is made using a marking tool. The two ends of the dough are stretched to approximately 20 cm, then twisted by rotating clockwise — the right hand turning to the right and the left hand to the left. The shaped dough is topped with a mixture of cumin seeds, sesame seeds, and walnuts. 4. Baking: The shaped dough pieces are placed on trays and moved to a resting room. After allowing the dough to rise until it reaches about 1.5 times its original size — which takes around 45 minutes to 1 hour in summer and up to 1.5 hours in winter — they are baked in a preheated oven at 280°C for 15 minutes. Before baking, each piece weighs approximately 270 g ± 10 g and reduces to about 220-225 g after baking. 5. Storage: Freshly baked Gebze Bayram Çöreği remains fresh for up to 72 hours when stored in sealed containers or suitable packaging at room temperature, protected from air. It can be refrigerated at 3 to 4°C for up to 15 days or frozen between -18 and -20°C for as long as 6 months.