The famous Turkish chef of Syrian roots, Burak Özdemir
By: Eman El-Ajlouni / Arab America Contributing Writer
Turkish chef and social media influencer Burak Özdemir is also known as CZN Burak. His cooking videos on Instagram and TikTok, in which he displays his culinary prowess and original food concoctions, helped him achieve fame.
Burak Özdemir was born on March 10, 1989, in Turkey to an Arab family from Yayladağıa, a city in Hatay, close to Turkey’s border with Syria. His mother’s name is Didem Bozbura, and his father is Mr. İsmail Özdemir, who are both of Syrian roots. His Father owned a textile shop called Cinzano, from which Özdemir’s nickname CZN (pronounced Che-Ze-Ne) was derived.
Burak had a passion for food and began developing his abilities in the kitchen as a young boy, learning how to cook from his grandfather. He attended the Faculty of Open Education at Anadolu University after high school and earned a degree there. CZN Burak had a passion for cooking at an early age and later started working as a chef at a number of restaurants around Turkey. He also started to share his dishes with his friends and family. He immediately fell deeply in love with Turkish food and started experimenting with old family recipes. His hobby quickly became a profession, and he started posting recipes and culinary tips online.
Burak frequently prepares and presents eye-catching meals in his amusing and animated approach in his videos. He has a special food preparation style that involves skillfully and playfully turning and flipping food. His videos gained millions of views and followers when they soon became viral. His social media following has grown to millions, and his videos have received hundred of millions of views. Burak’s career has been defined by his constant devotion to traditional Turkish ingredients and cooking methods, while he has also perfected his own distinctive culinary technique. He has earned recognition as a leading figure in Turkish cuisine and profiled in several books and media. CZN Burak is renowned for his specialty dish, the Oversized Turkish Kebab.
Nowadays, Burak now owns a successful restaurant chain in addition to succeeding as a social media influencer. A network of his CZNBurak restaurant business, Hatay Civilizations Table, also known as Hatay Medeniyetler Sofrası, has locations throughout Turkey, including Taksim, Aksaray, and Etiler, as well as Dubai, Dushanbe, and Doha. The family currently owns a network of more than six restaurants around the globe, serving enormous quantities of classic Turkish and Middle Eastern meals.
As of 2023, numerous sources estimate CZN Burak’s net worth to be $12 million. His work as a chef, restaurateur, and social media celebrity has allowed him to collect enormous wealth. His aim for creating his instructional films was to share recipes and aid others in understanding the world of food. He began to mostly post videos of himself cooking Turkish and Syrian meals while beaming widely. He has collaborated with various international content producers, including Khaby Lame, Marcelo Vieira, Edouard Mendy, and many more. Atta Halilintar, Virgoun, and Rizky Nazar, as well as other well-known figures, have been observed at his restaurants after he rose to fame on social media. Furthermore, as reported in The US Sun when the famous football player Cristiano Ronaldo visited him at one of his chains, not to mention that Ronaldo and Messi are also fans of his cuisine.
Burak Özdemir, better known by his professional name CZN Burak, has established himself as a prominent figure in the food industry. He is renowned for his entertaining cooking techniques, inventive menu items, and prowess at connecting with fans on social media. CZN Burak first came to prominence for his unique approach to preparing a variety of Turkish and Syrian specialties. After footage showing him cooking enormous amounts of food on similarly enormous plates went popular on social media, he quickly gained notoriety. He is renowned for solely gazing at the camera when he prepares the cuisine. On Instagram, Burak has more than 48 million strong fan base.
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