Ottoman Palace Cuisine of the Classical Period: Continued ...
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4. Food Culture of the Palace
4.1. General Features
The meat and milk based eating habits of Turks acquired in Central Asia that were carried to Anatolia under went immense changes in the 15th century. We can assume that these changes were quite limited in the rural areas, sources from the early periods clearly indicate these changes in the cities. Possibly the earliest site where these changes took place was the Ottoman palace. All the characteristics identified exclusively for the Ottoman palace were generally applicable for Istanbul and Anatolian folk kitchens.
First of all, eating habits at the Ottoman palace were not based on just one or more staple foods, on the contrary whatever produce they had to hand they consumed in a well-balanced way. Although there were regional differences, during the Middle Ages and Modern Times, in the kitchens of the Far East, Southeast Asia, India and Persia, the domination of rice was obvious. In most of the aforesaid regions wheat and meat at meals was almost non-existent, whereas meat took precedence over vegetable produce in Europe. In contrast, in the Ottoman palace, almost every item — whether meat based or vegetable based — produced within the borders of empire was subject to consumption. Meat, wheat, rice and clarified butter all played significant roles in the menus, but the palace household also consumed all other animal and vegetable products in a well-balanced way. Therefore, we can say that the Ottoman palace food culture had to some degree combined the tradition of East and West.
Figure 10: Kilar-i Amire building. Kilar-i Amire building, now seat of the Topkapi Palace Museum Archive.
Another important characteristic of Ottoman palace culinary culture was predicated on an approach of understanding the close relationship between food and medicine. This concept had grown out of Islamic medicine, which the Ottomans also followed. According to this concept, in the human body there are four humors: blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile. Balanced humours indicate healthiness and unbalanced humours indicate sickness. One of the factors determining the quantity and level of the humours is food and drink. Therefore, a balanced dietary regimen was necessary in order to keep the humours in balance throughout the year. If one got out of balance, he/she had to adjust the diet and get a medicine supplement . In addition, these humours were thought to show variations in every season. In spring and autumn blood-making foods should be preferred, in summer time biligenic foods, in wintertime expectorant foods and again, in autumn black bile reducing foods. Palace doctors were well informed on every fine detail of this Islamic medicine and some of the kitchen personnel may also have had some knowledge, and therefore would serve the palace household seasonal menus for balancing the humours.
In most of the palace kitchen ledgers there are references to dietary foods . Preparing meals for special dietary requirements needed talent. Therefore, a cook specializing in dietary foods and called "regimener" (perhizî) was employed in the Ottoman palace kitchen . It was also stressed in the Ottoman foundation registers that cooks employed in the hospitals (Darüşşifas) should know how to prepare dietary foods .
In the Ottoman palace, laws determined eating and eating manners. There were certain rules of etiquette outlining who would sit at which table and other rules to obey during meals. Table seating was arranged according to hierarchy. After the implementation of Mehmed II's Organizational Code, Sultans began to have their meals only with their families . At the Divân-i Hümâyûn the grand vizier and head treasurer, viziers, other treasurers and nişanci (chancellor, secretary) shared two different tables. For military judges they used to set up another table. Once high-level officials had left the table, the lower ranks would sit at the same table and eat whatever was left over from the previous sitters. Those tables, which reflected the generosity of Sultan, secured the devotion among both high and low-level officials. Thus, they had a symbolic function.
The palace household had two meals a day. Morning breakfast time was at mid-morning and dinner time was after the mid-afternoon prayer . Meals were served on a low table made from hide called bulgârî and people sat on the floor to eat. With the exception of banquets thrown in the honour of foreign envoys, luxury and pomp was avoided . The eating time was not prolonged; it was so short on some occasions to surprise foreign ambassadors. Food was served on a large plate and everyone sitting around the table ate from the central plate. In the palace gold, silver and porcelain plates were used, but this kitchenware was for the elite minority; most of the incumbents were served meals in shallow pans made from tin-coated copper. There were no knives and forks on the tables; instead, for the elite they used jewelled spoons while others ate their food with wooden spoons. When compared with Western palaces and excluding banquet and festive tables and those of some elites, most meals consisted of low budget menus .
The Ottoman palace baked bread from of two different types of flour: has (best quality) flour and fodula (normal quality) flour. There were two different fodulas: meyane (medium quality) and harci (lower quality). Two different breads were baked with these flours: Has bread and harcî bread. Harcî bread was from both has flour and normal quality fodula flour. Therefore, we can divide the palace breads into three groups; good quality has bread, medium quality has bread and low quality harcî bread. The bread made out of has flour was served to Sultans as well as to members of the court and harem, viziers, chamberlains, Sheikh ul-Islam, Nakib-ül eşraf, ministers, imam of sultans and retired palace lords; bread made out of fodula flour and harcî bread was served to large sections of the population, from sultanas to conscript pages.
In the Ottoman palace, apart from these breads, different kinds of bread and bakery products were also produced: round bread (nân-i müdevver), nân-i pîç, chickpea bread (nân-i nohut), nân-i mirahûrî, nân-i kirde, sweet bread (nân-i sükkerî), pita bread (nân-i pite ), imam bread (imam ekmeǧi), bun (çörek), scones (poǧaça-i revganî and poǧaça-i pîç), kinds of bagel (semiz halka orsimidhalka), savoury pastries (gözleme, börek), sweet pastry (börek-i sükkerî1 ), savoury pastry with chicken (tavuk böreǧi), thin sheet of pastry (rikak oryufka), biscotte (peksimed), sweet pastries (nukul and nukul-i sükkerî) . All these bakery products were served to the palace household according to their positions.
Figure 11: Bakery Door: The door entering palace bakeries section from the front side of Kilar-i Amire building.
Figure 12: Task assignment order to supply wheat to palace (Ottoman Archive of Prime Ministery, İbnülemin-Tevcihât, no. 11).
In the bread and bakery products, herbs such as sesame seeds and nigella seeds, mastic and anise as well as eggs were used. During the reign of Sultan Mehmed II, sheep's tail fat and fennel seeds (Semen foeniculi) were also used in the preparation of has breads.
In the 16th century, apart from breads baked for the public, there was a decrease in the weight of the palace breads . In the second half of the 15th century the weight of one loaf of has bread was 630 grams and during most of the 16th century it was below 500grams (458 grams). By the 17th century, it had further decreased to 401 grams weight. Harci bread which was 550 grams at the end of 15th century, decreased to 428 grams during the first half of the 16th century and to 401 grams during the last quarter of the same century. Throughout the first half of the 17th century, it maintained a weight of 377 grams.
Bread consumption at the palace increased along with the increase in its population. Towards the end of the 15th century, annual has bread production went up from 230,000 to 500,000 loaves during Sultan Bayezid's reign (1520-1566) and approached 1,000,000 in the last quarter of the century. At certain times it looked lower, although for the next half of the century bread consumption was generally between 1,500,000 and 2,000,000. Similar figures can be seen in the consumption of harcî breads. At the end of the 15th century, the consumption of this bread was around 320,000 but at the end of the 16th century it exceeded 1,000,000 and during the first half of the next century it had gone up to between 2,000,000 and 2,500,000 loaves.
When we calculate daily bread consumption from the amounts of annually consumed bread we can get a better insight into the daily bread consumption of the palace. Thus, at the end of the 15th century daily bread consumption in the palace was 650 loaves of has bread and about 915 loaves of harcî bread. In the first half of the 17th century, has bread consumption was between 4041 and 5982, and harcî bread consumption was between 4774 and 8720 loaves . So, palace bread consumption at the end of 15th century was 1600, and in the first half of the 17th century it was over 6000.
Names of dishes were partly recorded in the palace archives, but none of their recipes were mentioned in detail, although all those dishes served at the palace were mentioned in details in the cookbooks of the time .
For the classical period of Ottoman cuisine, we can make some generalizations about the palace dishes: in terms of content and taste, classical period dishes were very different from today's food and even from the food of the 19th century. Clarified butter (clarified butter is butter that has had the milk solids and water removed) was used in preference to olive or vegetable oil in cooking. Sauces made with spices were used to flavour meals. Use of tomato paste was linked with the early 19th century. In the combination of stews, unlimited fruits were also used (e.g. plum soup, tüffâhiyye, stuffed apple etc.) We can also observe in recipes of the time many different tastes within a meal. For example, foods that contained both honey and vinegar were cooked, although each has a separate, distinct taste in the mouth .
Figure 13: Starch puding (paluze) makers. (Source: Surnâme-i Hümayun, Topkapi Palace Museum Library, MS H. 13 44, folio 300a).
Meat was used in most foods , but many vegetable meals were also cooked . We also know that many different types of soup were cooked . The Turks' fondness for pilaf was such that it attracted the attention of travellers.
A dish with meat, soup and pilaf was common at both the palace tables and in peoples' kitchens in general. A favourite food of the Turks of Central Asia was offal and a distinctive feature of the Ottoman kitchen was the presence of offal up until the last days of empire. Purchase records in the palace logbooks reveal the use of boiled sheep heads, calves feet, liver, intestines, şirdan (the second stomach of a ruminant) and tripe.
The meat consumed most, both in the palace household and nationwide, was mutton. Although there were records of limited numbers of goat kid and calf there is not even a single record about the consumption of beef. Beef in the Ottoman palace was used only in pepperoni (sucuk) and pastrami (pastirma).
On the other hand, as a white meat, the palace consumed a lot of chicken. Some palace elites even had the privilege of eating birds such as goose, duck and pigeon. But we must also note that in the 15th century, the consumption of red meat was higher than white meat. In the 17th century, the gap seems narrower. It is possible to see this from annual consumption figures. For example, at the end of the 15th century there was an annual consumption of around 10,000 chickens and 15,000 sheep. In the first half of the 17th century, annual consumption was 160,000 chickens and 100,000 sheep. During this 150-year period, chicken consumption had risen 16-fold and sheep consumption had only increased 7-fold.
Kebabs and stews with every kind of meat were cooked in the palace kitchens. Birds such as chicken and duck were mostly roasted on a spit. Spit roasted meat, was at the time one of the foremost foods of the banquets. Apart from main meals, meats were also used in soups and vegetable dishes.
Figure 14: İftar meal, by grand vizier d'Ohsson. (Source: Tableau général de L'Empire Othoman, II, Paris 1790; Coşkun Yilmaz Archive).
Almost all historians of the era noted the fish consumption of the palace as being very limited. In fact, archive records concerning fish are very poor . Other sea foods such as oysters, shrimps, roe and caviar were encountered more often in the 15th century lists, but in later centuries these dishes do not appear with the same frequency. Although limited seafood was consumed in the palace, but when we compare that with seafood consumption of the regions where the travellers came from, palace consumption was a long way behind. Finally, we should mention that not all fish consumption was recorded as some of the elite bought their fish from fishermen on the coast.
4.4. Sweets and Pickles
Apart from pastry sweets, almost all sweets, pickles and drinks were produced in the Confectionery Kitchen. The favourite sweets of the palace were at times baklava and at other times a sweet pastry called rikak baklava. As one of the customs of Ramadan and festive tables they were also distributed to the Janissaries on the days of wage payments and during the Hirkai Sharif visits on the fifteenth day of Ramadan. The pastry cooks fried pastries of rikak baklava in clarified butter and in those that were served to Janissaries; they used abundant honey and a little sugar as a sweetener. They also added almonds. Another sweet, which we learn about from the palace logbooks, is kadayif (shredded pastry). Kadayif was recorded as kadayif-i hassa, which also stressed that these sweets were served only to the Mother of the Reigning Sultan, and to the Sovereign; which meant that a few people in the palace could only consume this sweet.
Another favourite sweet in the palace was a starch-based pudding called zerde. Its consumption was so common that the entire palace household would have enjoyed this sweet which contained rice, sugar and starch as well as saffron colouring, ground hazelnut and almond. Although not detailed in the kitchen books starchy puddings (pelte, paluze) and milk puddings (muhallebi) were also mentioned. However, the Ottomans called any mixture containing rice flour, milk and sugar pudding (muhallebi).
Figure 15: Bread makers carrying breads on trays. (Source (Surnâme-i Hümayun, Topkapi Palace Museum Library, MS H. 1344, folio 152b).
Being one of the foremost icons of the traditional culture halva was popular among common people as much as in the palace. According to records, the most popular halva made in the Confectionery was zülbâye halva, which was also recorded as zülbiye or zülâbiye. The consumption rate of this halva during festive days was a nightmare for the confectioners. Other halvas produced in the palace were almond, baş, zerd, tahini, lokma, chestnut, bayram, kepçe (menfiş) and halkaçini halvas. A sort of almond halva known as kirma badem halva was the most popular one, and although there is no mention in the records it was customary at the banquets. The halvas such as ak halva, fistik halva, sabunî halva which are not mentioned in the records were also popular at banquets. Finally, in the records of the Confectionery, an entry mentions the existence of a halva known as pişmaniye but that name in the records was written as pişmani.
Inside the Confectionery was another unit where they made jams. Also known as the jam kitchen, in this section they made jams with almost every type of fruit. Some of the fruits used in the jams were fruits still familiar today such as apple, pear, quince, cherry, sour cherry, rose, bitter orange, cornelian cherry, medlar, peach and green almond, but other fruits which are not so familiar today were also used in jams: melon, watermelon, walnut, jujube, lemon, pumpkin, eggplant, mürekkep (a fruit from citrus fruits), citron and limon-i Frengî (also from citrus fruits but there is not enough evidence to distinguish today's equivalent). Although most of the palace jams were produced here, some of them were brought from the provinces. In this context, we can cite many other local jams such as that from Edirne province, Shemseddin Sâmi's type of rose jam, which he called gülbeşeker and various jams from the Adana region.
There were two more jams mentioned in the palace records: rub and murabbâ. Rub or murabba were a thicker-style jam and resembled to a kind of marmalade. To yield a jam out of these fruits, first they used to get the sap of the fruit, and then they used to boil the sap until the liquid got thick. The sap was dried in the sun to make dried fruit pulp. In the kitchen records there are some entries about dried fruit pulp but the types are unknown. Rubs made at the Confectionery were limited to apple rub (Pirus malus), myrtle rub (Myrtus communis) and jujube rub (Zizyphusjujuba). In addition, some of the halva makers used to go to the royal gardens of Istanbul and make rub from the roses of these gardens. Other rubs supplied for the enjoyment of palace elites were quince and rose rubs from Edirne, evergreen verjuice rub and pomegranate rub of Bursa, barberry rub (Berberis vulgaris) of Yanbolu/İslimye, emblica rub (Phyllanthus emblica), hummas, ginger rub (Zingiber officinale), nutmeg rub (Semen myristicae) and kabuli false black pepper rubs (Embellia ribes) of Egypt.
Figure 16: Meal carrying cooks. (Source: Mouradgea d'Ohsson, Tableau général de L'Empire Othoman, III/2, Paris 1820; Coşkun Yilmaz Archive).
The other function of the Confectionery was to act as the palace pharmacy. Once a year they produced syrups and capsule sized pastes (kurs) for patients' use. Some of the pastes (macun) were not considered drugs; therefore, elites consumed them as treats and body supplements. In the Confectionery, every year in the spring (during Nevruz), in the night's so-called "wormwood night entertainments" the cooks would blend pastes and this activity would go continue for some time. In the kitchen log books, there are entries of some first day pastes: cornelian cherry, quince, musk, balm, cevarish, karabash (a type of lavender) tiryak-ifaruk, mesir, tiryâk-i erba'a,filoniya, itrifil, felâsife and scorpion pastes. According to Mustafa Ali of Gelibolu mesir paste was a noon time favourite of the palace elites, but there was another mesir paste that was a traditionally blended treat of the Manisa region; between these two pastes the difference was the number of spices in their content. In the preparation of Manisa mesir paste they actually used 41 different spices. But two other mesir pastes blended exclusively for sultans contained 61 different spices.
Although they have a completely opposite taste, pickles, like sweets, were produced in the Confectionery. The most popular of the pickles here was cabbage pickle. Thus, the numbers of cabbages purchased was very high. For example, for making pickles in 1615 the number cabbages purchased was 10,875 and in 1620 it was 11,114. According to tally books, cooks made pickles from lemon, bitter orange, cucumber, gourd, artichoke, eggplant and turnip. In the production of these pickles, they used the renowned yellow vinegar of the Bursa province. The pickles available in the palace were not limited to these pickles as ready-made pickles were bought in the provinces. The best known of these was the caper (Capparis spinosa) pickle of Osmancik province. In Turkish cuisine, evidence of capers goes back to the first half of the 14th century; it is one of the traditional pickle staples. Caper pickles were made both from the bud and the branch with mandrake added (Mandragora atumnalis) to provide scent. Grape pickles of Gelibolu and mint pickles of Bursa were also shipped to palace. All the pickles, whether purchased from the provinces or made on the premises, were stored in the pickle storage of the Confectionery for consumption throughout the year.
Apart from water, beverages consumed in the palace consisted of compote (hoşaf), sherbet, lemonade, boza and coffee. There is not a single record about the alcoholic beverage consumption of palace inhabitants. This is because alcoholic beverages were not considered legal from the perspective of Ottoman religious and customary laws. Therefore paying for them from the treasury was an unthinkable act. Those who wished to drink alcoholic beverages had to pay for them from their own budget. However, for non-Muslim imperial statesmen there was an allotment of alcoholic beverages. Those non-Muslim statesmen were allowed to drink these liqueurs only within their own residences. When they were attending official dinners, they were not served alcoholic beverages.
Compote was one of the basic drinks of the Ottomans but in compotes less fruit varieties were used than for jams and sherbets. According to logbooks, fruits used in the preparation of compotes were limited to grapes, figs, apricots and pears. In these records, almost all types of jam and sherbet were mentioned but on the same lists, only a few types of compote were listed. If each drink consumed at the palace was prepared with as many different types of fruit then we can assume that at least apples and plums were used in the preparation of the compotes.
Although there is uncertainty about the types of compotes, it is possible to list almost every sherbet made in the Confectionery. There was violet, gül maa gülşeker (rose and sugar flavoured with rose), rose and lemon, red rose, water lily, buckwheat, berry, jujube, quince, quince leaf, sour cherry, tamarind, narcissus, usul, dinarî and sahtere sherbets and ecza sherbet, which was made out of assorted leaves. Sherbets brought from the provinces to the palace were hummas sherbet  of Egypt, ribas (Rehum ribes) sherbet  of Damascus, pomegranate sherbet of Bursa, barberry (Berberis vulgaris) of Yanbolu and red rose and rose and lemon sherbets of Edirne. If we can consider lemon water as a sherbet, it was made at the palace as well as in the citrus fruits centres of Kos Island and in Chios and Alanya. During warm summer days snow gathered at snow deposits in Istanbul and snows brought from the peak of Uludaǧ mountain (in the province of Bursa) were used in drinks as coolers. Sherbets both made at the palace and brought from the provinces were consumed in large quantities and some of them were used for the treating of the sick people.
Figure 17: Poultrymen carrying chicken in cages and eggs in the baskets. (Source: Surnâme-i Hümayun, Topkapi Palace Museum Library, MS H. 1344, folio 347a).
Figure 18: View of Kitchen Chimneys from the Justice Tower of the Topkapi Palace.
The amount of boza (fermented wheat, barley or rice) made at the palace was tremendous. The records regarding boza production are limited to the amounts of rice used in the preparation of the boza. In 1626, 6.7 tons of rice, in 1631 7.5 tons of rice and in 1638 3.9 tons of rice were used in the boza production. These high figures show the importance of boza consumption in palace drinking culture.
Coffee entered the daily lives of Istanbulers in the first half of the 16th century, however the time when it was introduced to the palace household is unknown. In the kitchen records, entries of this luxury item are in the first half of the 17th century and those records show only the allocation of sugar used in the coffee. Those records also showed that coffee was not consumed on its own but together with sugar. Since it was considered a luxury there were no coffee purchase records as these items were not supposed to be paid for by the kitchen budget. Payment for coffee from the kitchen budget would have started in the second half of the 17th century. Drinking coffee at the palace was the sole privilege of the Sultan, his mother and prominent members of the Harem, court members and palace lords.
Figure 19: Bayram Ceremony: Ceremony in the Second Courtyard of Topkapi Palace. (Source: d'Ohsson, Tableau général de L'Empire Othoman, II, Paris 1790).
In conclusion, Ottoman palace cuisine was the product of a continuum that partly maintained the habits from Central Asia that developed in the Near East and then flourished in Anatolia. In terms of organization and staff numbers, it was perhaps the most developed cuisine of Turkish history. Both kitchen organization and sophistication in taste continued along with the political and economic development of the state. In fact, the pinnacle of the cuisine was the 16th century when the empire was at its peak in terms of political and economic standing. The most significant problem that overshadowed the success of the kitchen organization was excesses in staff numbers. However, the state tried to lower the numbers of personnel and by the end of the 16th century, it was successful in this respect. At the end of the 15th century though purchasing fewer than 20 types of spices, by the last quarter of the 16th century this figure had risen to over 200. The increase in the number of spices over this period indicates elegance in the dishes and refinement of their tastes.
Figure 20: Banquet given for sheiks and 'ulema. (Source: Surnâme-i Vehbi, Topkapi Palace Museum Library, MS H. 3593, folio 30b).
Despite disruptions at certain times, during the classical period provisioning of the palace was maintained successfully. Supplying problems, which occurred due to economic and social disturbances towards the end of 16th century, were overcome by introducing new systems. The other reason for the success of provisions to the palace was the privilege of priority given to the food supply clerks of the palace, also be called the right of monopoly.
In the Ottomans' palace, the consumption of cereal, meat, milk and dairy products, vegetables, fruit and other produce was balanced. On the tables of the palace, elite there were a variety of dishes, sweets as well as drinks. Although not always desirable for visitors coming from foreign countries, the palace tables always offered a desired place for any Ottoman. Although there was an abundance of produce in the dishes, it was either not until the 17th century that okra, tomatoes, beans, green peppers, cauliflowers, potatoes and oranges appeared on the palace tables or in the people of Istanbul's homes. As most of these were staples of the American continent, these products only appeared in Ottoman territory after the discoveries of the Americas. Okra and tomatoes would have appeared in the 17th century; beans, green peppers, cauliflowers and oranges in the 18th century; and potatoes in the 19th century. If we consider the significance of the tomato, beans (especially dried beans) and the potato in today's Turkish cuisine, we can imagine how much Turkish cuisine has been transformed.
6. Further reading:
Articles on food, agriculture, cuisine and cookery published on www.MuslimHeritage.com:
- Bilgin, Dr. Arif, and Samanci, Ozge, Turkish Cuisine: A Book Review (published 13 February 2009).
- FSTC, http://MuslimHeritage.com/topics/default.cfm?ArticleID=378The Coffee Trail: Origins of the Muslim beverage (published 25 June 2003); introduction to Rabah Saoud, The Coffee Trail: A Muslim Beverage Exported to the West.
- FSTC, Muslim Contribution to Agriculture (published 25 December 2001).
- FSTC, http://MuslimHeritage.com/topics/default.cfm?ArticleID=568Muslim Contribution to Spanish Agriculture (published 23 February 2006).
- Idrisi, Zohor, The Muslim Agricultural Revolution(published 01 February 2006). See also the full article (in PDF version): Zohor Idrissi: The Muslims Agricultural Revolution and its Influence on Europe.
- Idrisi, Zohor, http://MuslimHeritage.com/topics/default.cfm?ArticleID=696The Influence of Islamic Culinary Art on Europe (published 16 May 2007).
- Randah Kasmo, 12th Century Cookery from all the World (published 18 February 2005).
- Sari, Nil, http://MuslimHeritage.com/topics/default.cfm?ArticleID=1051Food as Medicine in Muslim Civilization (published 8 January 2009)
- Rossant, Juliette, The World's First Soft Drink (published 27 February 2006).
 Nil Sari, "Osmanli Sarayinda Yemeklerin Mevsimlere Göre Düzenlenmesi ve Devrin Tababetiyle İlişkisi", in Türk Mutfaǧi Sempozyumu Bildirileri (31 Ekim - 1 Kasim 1981), Ankara 1982, pp. 245-257.
 For example, see. BOA (Ottoman Archive of Prime Ministery), Maliyeden Müdevver Defterler (MAD), no. 2003, p. 72-78; MAD, no. 2111, p. 42; MAD, num. 5095, p. 35; MAD, no. 274, p. 40; MAD, no. 292, p. 2; MAD, no. 7502, p. 39.
 An assignment tezkire (official document) referring to the end of the 16th century shows that a bölükbaşi (senior apprentice) was appointed asperhizî i.e. regimer (BOA, Bâb-i Asafî Ruus Kalemi, num. 1471, p. 19).
 Nil Sari, "Osmanli Darüşşifalarinda Meslek Ahlâki", Osmanli, VIII, Ankara 1999, pp. 494-517; Nilüfer Gökçe, "Edirne Sultan II. Bayezid Darüşşifasi Vakfiyesine Göre Darüşşifada Çalişan Personel ve Kullanilan İlâçlar", in IV. Türk Eczacilik Tarihi Toplantisi Bildirileri (İstanbul:4-5 Haziran 1998), Istanbul 2000, p. 316.
 "Ve cenâb-i Şerifim ile kimesne taâmyemek kanûnum deǧildir. Meǧer ki ehl [u] iyâlden ola. Ecdâd-i izâmim vüzerâsiyla yerler imiş. Ben ref‘ etmişimdir" (Abdülkadir Özcan, "Fâtih'in Teşkilât Kanûnnâmesi ve Nizâm-i Âlem İçin Kardeş Katli Meselesi", Tarih Dergisi, XXXIII (Istanbul 1982), p. 45).
 Ottoman and other sources mention only two meals (Tayyârzâde Ahmed Atâ, Târih-i Atâ, I, Istanbul no date, p. 159; C. G. Fisher - A. Fisher, "Topkapi Sarayi in the Mid-Seventeenth Century: Bobovi's Description", Archivum Ottomanicum, X (1985-87), p. 30). While some travel writers give the meal number as three or four, this is not correct. Those who want to have a meal outside the main repasts had it by themselves. It could be surmised that persons in the Inner Apartment (Enderun) and Harem (for example, the Sultan and his family) would meet their additional food needs from the Inner Kitchen (Kuşhane).
 Metin And, 16. Yüzyilda İstanbul: Kent, Saray, Günlük Yaşam, Istanbul 1993, p. 180. Feasts for envoys were generally organized on the paydays of the Janissaries following the Divan assembly. Thus foreign envoys were shown the financial power of state through the money paid to Janissaries. The prosperity of state was also implied with the abundance of food served up at table. In short these feasts were turned into a stage for displaying prosperity and resplendence. Despite the richness of menu, it was observed that most of the visitors did not like the dishes much (Lucette Valensi, Venedik ve Bâb-i Âli: Despot'un Doǧuşu, trans. by A. Turgut Arnas, Istanbul 1994, p. 100; And, 16. yüzyilda İstanbul, p. 174). This is likely to be due to visitors who came from different cultural environments were not used to the flavours and tastes of Ottoman cuisine at the time. For the recognition of food as an insturment for showing of strength in the 14th and 16th centuries of Europe, see: Massimo Montanari, Avrupa'da Yemeǧin Tarihi, trans. by Mesut Önen, Istanbul 1995, pp. 112-115.
 Busbecq states that the food expenses of one person in his home country equals ten days expense of a Turk (Edward Seymour Forster, The Turkish Letters of Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq, London 1968, pp. 52-53). Turkish foods are generally simple and for eating to meet needs. For details see: Tülay Reyhanli, İngiliz Gezginlerine Göre XVI. Yüzyilda İstanbul'da Hayat (1582-1599), Ankara 1983, p. 67; Metin And, 16. Yüzyilda Istanbul, p. 174.
 We know that three kinds of pide bread that were prepared in the palace during the reign of Mehmed II were spinach, gourd and cheese. Egg was also used in its preparation. See: Ahmed Refik, "Fâtih Devrine Aid Vesîkalar", TOEM, VIII-XI/49-62 (Istanbul 1988), pp. 24-26. Compare. Ö. Lutfi Barkan, "Istanbul Saraylarina Ait Muhasebe Defterleri", Belgeler, IX/13 (Ankara 1979), pp. 196-197, 200, 206.
 For the recipe see: Stefanos Yerasimos, Sultan Sofralari - 15. ve 16. Yüzyilda Osmanli Saray Mutfaǧi, Istanbul 2002, p. 136.
 Accounts of these bakery products are found in three separate kitchen accounts from the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries. See: BOA, Kamil Kepece Tasnifi (KK), 7094, p. 10; BOA, Bâb-i Defterî Başmuhasebe Kalemi Defterleri (D. BŞM), 10525, p. 20; Barkan, "Istanbul Saraylarina...", p. 143. In the feasts organized for the circumcision of Mehmed II's sons, Bayezid and Mustafa, that along with the weel-sugared nukul, and nukuls prepared with almond, pistachio, coriander, pine nut (habb-i sanevber), cinnamon and carnation were seen. (Tursun Bey, Târîh-i Ebü'l-Feth, published by Mertol Tulum, Istanbul 1977, p. 88).
 Both in the West and in Ottoman lands, bread prices generally did not fluctuate but quality and weight decreased so take society did not react in the times of famine. [Barnette Miller, Beyond the Sublime Porte, p. 164; Salih Aynural, İstanbul Firinlari ve Deǧirmenleri, Istanbul 2002, p. VII (Suraiya Faroqhi's presentation- French Example), p. 146 (Istanbul Example)].
 Bilgin, "Osmanli Sarayinda Beslenme Alişkanliklari", pp. 46-47.
 In his work, Sultan Sofralari, Stefanos Yeresimos provides some recipes for dishes prepared in the palace from the translation of Şirvani's Kitâbü't-tabîh (Sultan Sofralari - 15. ve 16. Yüzyilda Osmanli Saray Mutfaǧi, Istanbul 2002). For the review of some meal names and readings in this book see: Mustafa Argunşah, "Sultan Sofralan Üzerine Bir Deǧerlendirme", İlmî Araştirmalar, 14 (Istanbul 2002), pp. 231 -246. Şirvani's work was published by Mustafa Argunşah and Müjgan Çakir (15. Yüzyil Osmanli Mutfaǧi, Istanbul 2005). Also see. Marianna Yerasimos, 500 Yillik Osmanli Mutfaǧi, Istanbul 2005; Özge Samanci-Sharon Croxford, XIX. Yüzyil İstanbul Mutfaǧi, Istanbul 2006.
 For the recipe of salma including both honey and vinegar, see: Yerasimos, Sultan Sofralari, p. 64.
 For the food items used in the Palace kitchen and the list of the names of dishes, see: Bilgin, "Osmanli Sarayinda Beslenme Alişkanliklari", pp. 54-75.
 Ingredients in soups cooked in the palace included cereals, fruits, vegetables and herbs such as like parsley, cucumber, gourd, unripe grape, plum, chestnut, kendene (Marrubium vulgare), carrot, lemon balm, zirişk (Berberis vulgaris), lemon, nardeng (treacle made from the juice of pomegranate), sumac, peppermint, egg, noodle (home made macaroni), almond and turnip (Bilgin, "Osmanli Sarayinda Beslenme Alişkanliklari", pp. 56-57).
 While providing figures for the purchase of fish, rmost kitchen accounts did not mentioned the species of fish. Some records list cod, eel, and carp, which were certainly consumed in the palace. (Bilgin, Osmanli Saray Mutfaǧi, pp. 196-197). Fish consumption in the Ottoman palaces in the 19th century increased (Özge Sa-manci, "Sultan II. Abdülhamit'in Sofrasinda Baliklar" Yemek ve Kültür, 11 (Istanbul 2007), p. 150-154).
 Evliya Çelebi cites hummâs grown in Egypt as "lemon of hummâs" which shows us that the fruit of hummâs resembles a lemon (Seyahatnâme, X, Istanbul 1938, p. 504). Supporting this information, Steingass gives the definition of "portakal usaresi (orange juice)" (F. Steingass, A Comprehensive Persian-English Dictionary, Beyrut 1998, p. 430). This sherbet was made by boiling the juice of hummâs fruit, musk, ambergris and sugar.
 Ribâs sherbet is a beverage prepared by mixing liquid (ribâs) from ripe date with sugar, musk and ambergris.
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by: FSTC Limited, Thu 09 April, 2009