Superlatives in
Copper and Silver

(Kitchen Gear) Superlatives are as much a part of Emir Ali Enç’s vocabulary as the sound of hammer blows in the Soy workshop. Phrases such as “the Ferrari of pots,” “the Cristiano Ronaldo of copper and silver” (about one of his employees), or “the most ideal cookware on the planet” come easily to the Turkish entrepreneur. Some superlatives are pure physics and cannot be refuted: silver and copper, the raw materials from which Soy’s cookware is made, have the highest thermal conductivity. The Y-shaped handles, on the other hand, are made of a patented bronze alloy, which is intended to do exactly the opposite: to protect hands from heat.

Given Emir Ali Enç’s love of superlatives, it is hardly surprising that he has chosen to highlight his most exclusive regularly available product as such: It is a 32-centimeter diameter casserole dish made of pure 999 silver with a wall thickness of three millimeters, which comes in a water buffalo leather box and is guaranteed almost forever, well beyond the next generation of buyers.

As a diplomat’s son, Emir Ali Enç has lived in ten countries and speaks eight languages. He founded Soy with seed money from a television show. At some point, he realized that despite its long tradition of copper processing, there was no well-known brand for such products in Turkey. The market for copper cookware in the premium segment was dominated by Belgian and Italian companies, even though there was no such tradition of craftsmanship there. He started with a basement workshop in the maze of Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar, with walls in an almost unreal, almost hypnotically bright blue—“this color is typical of traditional Turkish metalworking companies,” says Emir Ali Enç. There were no elegant logo shopping bags in the Grand Bazaar; instead, customers packed their valuable cargo in standard black bin bags on their way out of the narrow maze of alleyways. “It couldn’t have been more inconspicuous,” he says.

Soy has since moved its production to another location, with the former workshop now serving as a showroom. Incidentally, in Turkish, Soy means roots or origin.

The collection includes small vessels with a wall thickness of one and a half millimeters, such as shot cups or cezve, the classic Turkish coffee pots, as well as large mixing bowls for pastry or vessels for poaching fish. The latter can weigh over six kilos and are available in even larger sizes for the catering trade on request. Typical of all Soy products are the countless small dents in the surface, completely regular, yet so minimally different that you can immediately recognize the craftsmanship. Metal specialists from various countries of origin hammer the pattern into round discs in a mixture of maximum concentration and trance, from which a wide variety of cookware are later created. Once you have heard this sound—a steady clong-clong-clong—you will never forget it.

In recent years, Emir Ali Enç has increasingly focused on the silver cookware market. His “Soy G Pure Solid Silver” collection is handmade from silver bars in his workshops. Due to the material’s special properties, the silver cookware products are often used at sea as they are particularly resistant to corrosion. Unlike copper and steel, pure silver is not affected by salty air, says the entrepreneur.

Soy has already equipped one or the other luxury yacht, while casserole dishes, cocktail shakers, and pans made of pure silver can also be found in the kitchens of various coastal residences. The company’s customers include royal families from the Middle East, one of whom has ordered a special collection for their royal yacht—complete with a confidentiality agreement. A European royal family also commissioned silver cookware with a diamond-engraved coat of arms to be custom-made in Istanbul. And Emir Ali Enç will never forget the pieces he made for an eccentric American billionaire: pots and pans in the shape of the Pentagon.