Tuğrul Şavkay (1951 – 29 September 2003) was a journalist, food expert and cook who wrote about Turkish culinary culture. He played a leading role in the establishment of the first university-level gastronomy department in Türkiye.
He was born in Nazilli district of Aydın. He completed his secondary education at Galatasaray High School. He started his higher education at the University of Graz in Austria, and after returning to Türkiye, he studied sociology at Boğaziçi University, Faculty of Administrative Sciences. He completed his master's and doctoral studies in political science at the same faculty.
From kitchen to podium
He started his career as a dishwasher in the kitchen of the Kervansaray Hotel while he was a student. In the following years, he worked as a cook, food and beverage manager and consultant in well-known hotels and restaurants. He took part in the promotion programs of the International Olive Oil Council affiliated with the United Nations for five years.
He was among the founders of the Kitchen Friends Association and the Wine Friends Association. He pioneered the establishment of the Gastronomy and Culinary Arts Department within Yeditepe University Faculty of Fine Arts and served as the head of the department. He published articles on food and drink culture in newspapers and magazines.
He wrote books on Turkish and Ottoman cuisine; Ottoman Cuisine and Tatlı Kitap are among them. He died on September 29, 2003, at the age of 52.