Bursa Kestane Şekeri

Bursa Kestane Şekeri is a candied chestnut confectionery produced in Bursa province in the Marmara region of Turkey. It is made by peeling chestnut fruit and cooking them whole in sugar syrup, a process that requires considerable craft skill. The European Commission entered it in the register of protected geographical indications on 17 November 2025, by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/2318, published in Official Journal L series 2025/2318. The Single Document was published in OJ C/2025/3669 on 17 July 2025 following no opposition. The EU file number is PGI-TR-02808, with a national application date of 22 October 2021. The application was submitted by the Bursa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BTSO), established in 1889. There are 38 members of the chamber engaged in the processing and trading of Bursa Kestane Şekeri.

What makes it distinct

Bursa Kestane Şekeri is classified as a PGI, meaning its link to Bursa is based on reputation and production skills rather than exclusive dependence on locally grown raw material. All production steps — peeling, shelling, sizing, grading, boiling, syrup preparation, and cooking in syrup — must take place within Bursa province. Due to increasing demand, chestnuts with the characteristics specified in the application may now be sourced from outside Bursa, provided the processing is carried out within the geographical area.

The colour of Bursa Kestane Şekeri is amber and yellowish. It must not have too dark a colour and must not be caramelised. Achieving the correct colour and texture without caramelisation requires a high level of craft skill, traditionally transmitted through master-apprenticeship relationships. The flavour profile may include sweetened smooth caramel, honey, butter cream, woodsy, roasted coffee, and sugared vanilla notes. It must not have a sour, bitter, metallic, or excessively burnt taste or astringency.

Product specifications

The following values are taken directly from the Single Document (OJ C/2025/3669) and product specification (Ref. Ares(2024)1541250):

Size grades (finished candied chestnuts):

• Small: 8–10 g

• Medium: 10–14 g

• Large: 14–20 g

• Extra-large: 22 g and above

Chestnut raw material size categories:

• Small: 4–7 g

• Medium: 7–10 g (suitable for production)

• Large: 10–15 g (suitable for production)

• Very large: 15 g and above

Quality and composition:

• Chestnut outer shell ratio: maximum 25% by weight

• Fruit ratio (packaged without syrup): minimum 63–71%

• Fruit ratio (packaged with syrup): minimum 60%

• pH value: 5–5.8

• Glucose in syrup: maximum 3%

• Sugar ratio: 10–12 kg white crystalline sugar to 4 litres of water per 10 kg of chestnuts

Chestnut raw material requirements:

• Colour: cream

• Taste: not sour, sourish, or astringent

• Shell: easily peelable, thin

• Excluded: decayed, wormy, frost-burned, or dark chestnuts; chestnuts unsuitable for calibration

Packaging formats: Boxes, bowls, glass jars, metal tins, vacuum bags, or plastic containers; with or without syrup. Shelf life varies from 30 days to 3 years depending on packaging and heat treatment. Pasteurisation may be used after packaging to extend shelf life.

Production zone

The geographical area for the production and processing of Bursa Kestane Şekeri is confined to Bursa province, located in the south of the Marmara region. All production steps must be carried out within Bursa province.

Production method

Chestnuts may be peeled manually or by machine. The outer shells are first dried, then scratched and removed in a peeling machine. The chestnuts are then softened with steam and the inner membranes removed. Chestnuts not going immediately into production are stored frozen at -18°C, where they can be kept for two to three years.

Peeled chestnuts are sorted by size. Medium and large chestnuts are suitable for Bursa Kestane Şekeri production. Chestnuts broken during production are packaged separately as broken chestnuts. The sized chestnuts are placed into stainless steel baskets. In a conventional variant, chestnuts are wrapped in special porous chestnut cloths before basketing — a method originating from home production in the 1930s.

The chestnuts are boiled in purified, softened, and ultraviolet-treated process water. Water hardness must not exceed 22°f (French degrees of hardness). In a separate vessel, white crystalline sugar is dissolved in water at a ratio of 10–12 kg sugar to 4 litres of water per 10 kg of chestnuts to produce syrup. No more than 3% glucose may be used. After boiling, the water is strained from the chestnuts and they are cooked in the syrup for 45–60 minutes in an open or closed boiling tank. The cooked chestnuts are then held in a retaining section for one day before they are ready for consumption.

Historical background

Documentary evidence links Bursa Kestane Şekeri production to Ottoman palace records from the 15th century, when only candied chestnuts (without sugar syrup as now understood) were used. Commercial production in Bursa began in the famous Şekerciler Bazaar in the early 1900s. Written sources record that in 1928, Ulus Patisserie sent Bursa Kestane Şekeri to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, and that delegations travelling from Ankara to Bursa brought the product back with them.

The scale and taste of chestnuts grown on Bursa's Uludağ Mountain are referenced in the travel writings of Ibn-i Batuta (14th century) and Evliya Çelebi (17th century). The product is listed in the Dictionary of Ottoman Cuisine (Priscilla Mary Işın, 2010 edition, page 208) and is documented in the Popular Culture Archive maintained by the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

Bursa Kestane Şekeri is given as a gift on special occasions and visits and is widely recognised as the defining taste of Bursa. It appears in works by Karagöz-Hacivat play texts and in cookery and culinary history publications about Bursa.

Control and certification

The competent control authorities, as listed in the EU register, are two bodies:

• Central Research Institute of Bursa Food and Feed Control — Adalet Mh. 1. Hürriyet Caddesi No: 128, 16160 Osmangazi, Bursa

• Food and Feed Branch Office of Bursa Provincial Directorate of Agriculture and Forestry — Adalet Mahallesi 1. Hürriyet Caddesi, Osmangazi, Bursa

Control and monitoring is coordinated by the Bursa Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Producers are registered with the chamber and subject to inspection. Products are traced via batch and lot numbers comprising province, district, neighbourhood/village, harvest year, and batch sequence. Companies that pass inspection are published on the chamber's website.

All labelling must include the words 'Protected Geographical Indication' and 'Bursa Kestane Şekeri' on the visible face of the packaging, together with the size grade and whether the product is packaged with or without syrup.