The meals served at the wedding in question are very important in terms of reflecting the richness of the Ottoman food culture. Because information is given not only about the dishes, but also about the materials used, the most popular foods and beverages, which are important elements..
Ottoman Food Culture in the Surname of Ali from Gallipoli
Assist. Assoc. Dr. Şerife AĞARI
Summary
The food culture in the Ottoman Empire is very rich. Especially the weddings and festivities held in the palace caused this richness to turn into a feast. One of the many magnificent weddings held in the Ottoman palace, perhaps even the most magnificent, was the III. Murad's son III. It is the circumcision wedding made for Mehmet in 1582. Written in verse by Ali from Gallipoli, this wedding witnessed many colorful images, one of which is the tables set and the food and drinks served at these tables. Because one of the most important issues in such festivities is the food served.
The meals served at the wedding in question are very important in terms of reflecting the richness of the Ottoman food culture. Because information is given not only about the dishes, but also about the materials used, the most popular foods and beverages, which are important elements of our cultural history. In this study, it has been tried to shed light on the
Ottoman food culture in the 16th century, based on the information given in the verse surnâme of Ali of Gallipoli called Câmi'u'l-Buhûr Der-MecAlis-i Sûr.
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The Turkish food culture, which has continued with all its diversity from history to the present, reached its richest state, especially during the Ottoman period. Because in a geography where different societies live together, there is nothing more natural than the diversification of food culture.
The determination of P. Mary Işın, who conducted research on Ottoman cuisine, is as follows:
There are many reasons why Ottoman cuisine, which is an extraordinarily rich synthesis, has a unique structure as a cuisine where creativity plays an important role. The most important of these are the multicultural structure of the empire, the existence of large lands with different climates where many different plant species grow, the wide trade network and the presence of people with a developed palate and keen on innovations among the notables of the society. (Isin, 2014:7)
The development of Ottoman cuisine in general, and Ottoman palace cuisine in particular, was parallel to the process of becoming an empire, and it was perfected in the 16th century, when the state reached its widest borders. Especially as a result of the conquest of the main production centers and the control of the spice routes, the variety of products that entered the Ottoman palace increased and this situation led to the development of taste and thus to the enrichment of the tables. (Bilgin, 2000: 246)
Especially the weddings and festivities held in the palace caused this richness to turn into a feast.
One of the many magnificent weddings held in the Ottoman palace, III. It is the circumcision wedding of Murad's son, Prince Mehmed, made in 1582. The verse surnâme named Câmiu'l-Buhûr Der-Mecâlis-i Sûr by Âlî from Gallipoli describes this wedding. The wedding, known as the 1582 Festival, was the scene of very colorful images. One of them is the tables set and the food and drinks served at these tables. Because one of the most important issues in such festivities is the food served. The meals served at the wedding in question are very important in terms of reflecting the richness of the Ottoman food culture.
Because information is given not only about the dishes, but also about the materials used, the most popular foods and beverages, which are important elements of our cultural history. In this respect, this magnificent festival has not only been the subject of many literary works, but has also been instrumental in the emergence of the first known examples of surnames. Gelibolulu Âlî's Câmi'u'l-Buhûr Der-Mecâlis-i Sûr and İntizâmî's Surname-i Hümâyun are the first examples of these weddings. (Aynur, 2009: 37/565) In this study, it has been tried to shed light on Ottoman food culture based on the information given in the aforementioned verse surnâme of Gelibolulu Âlî.
There are different reasons why weddings in the Ottoman palace lasted for days and were very ostentatious. One of them, perhaps the most important, is to reveal the magnificence of the state and to establish a connection between the public and the palace. For this reason, it is important to set up banquet tables and to offer dozens of different kinds of food in such festivities. Gelibolu Âlî underlines this fact in the surname and states that the purpose of the wedding is a feast:
It is a feast, because who is from the wedding?
Let it spread from the day the stage started (2114)
The banquet tables set up during this festival are at least as pompous as other events. Even the rugs and cushions laid around the end-to-end tables are dazzlingly ornate:
Gark idi ni'mete divan-hane
Tâ a'yâna feasts
The simat was drawn from the beginning
The bisât was furnished with adornment (222-223)
This situation arises not only from the food, but also from the containers in which those dishes are served. Because, in the kitchen facilities of the Ottoman palace, there was a glassware room where precious china dinnerware was kept. In this room, Chinese and Far Eastern porcelain and vivid colored Iznik tiles were kept together. Porcelain and china dinnerware used in the 1582 Festival were used from this warehouse. In addition to fağfur, copper pots and Iznik tiles brought from Matbaha-i Âmire, 541 Iznik ceramic plates, bowls and bowls were purchased from the bazaar. (Vroom, 2015: 158-160)
Ali from Gallipoli likened the food on these banquet tables to cities and drew attention to the domes made of grains. In addition, he considered the steaming smoke on each dome as a tower erected next to that dome. In this case, we can say that he likens the pilafs on the trays to a mosque dome, and the steaming smokes on them to the minaret of that mosque:
It was like a city envâ-i ta'âm
The domes of the dane turned over, order
It happened to every dome, but that menar
Dûd-ı ser-i ni'met-i hâr (224-225)
The book provides information about many different foods and beverages. Each of these foods is more delicious than the next:
Feast of a turf in every sufra that cannot be listened to
An Özge Halâvet in every tu'me that is unbeatable (2306)
The meals served at the banquet tables are so numerous that the poet states that these meals consist of sometimes three thousand and sometimes five thousand bowls:
Three thousand gahs, five thousand bowls of blessings
would have been arrogant (2123)
In fact, these dishes are like an ocean, and the tables are bursting with food that comes and goes, just like the waves of the seas:
Anvâ'-i ni'am misal-i derya
San became huruş with huveyda (1874)
In addition, the poet likened the carefully prepared tables to a sea of blessings, and the bread at the edge of the table to the beach; the more bones accumulate on this beach, the more acceptable it is: Blessing became the sea, nân beach.
Qabil (2108)
While describing the taste of the dishes, the poet says that they are treasures and that each of them has a different value:
Every kind of ni'am is a sefîne.
Taste of Treasure (1876)
***** Meals in Ottoman
We have discussed the food and beverages recorded in the surname written by Âli of Gallipoli about the 1582 Festival in three main lines. The first of these are the main dishes that form the basis of the tables:
Ta'm-ı sükker in every turfe dish
A taste-i hâs-ı nâ-mukarrer (1834)
***** Soup in Ottoman / Soup in Ottoman
One of the traditional foods of Turks is soup. Soup, which is a dish that has been changing from Central Asia to the present day, but has never been abandoned, gained the most variety in the 16th century.
Some of the nearly forty soups found to be cooked during this period are as follows: Chicken soups, rice soup, chickpea soup, lentil soup, mutton soup, tripe soup, almond soup, vermicelli soup, tarhana soup, turnip soup, etc. The main ingredients of most of these soups are chicken stock and rice. Also, many of them use broth. The oily juices of boiled ribs and meat stews are reserved for soups, and soups, whether with vegetables or grains, are cooked with these fatty broths in the palace cuisine. (Yerasimos, 2014: 60-61)
According to Ali of Gallipoli, the assemblies established in the 1582 Festival were such refreshing ones that sugar is used instead of salt in various soups because salt does not suit such an assembly:
This bezm-i dil-güşadur says that there is no sûr in this mahzâ
Sugar ref' eyledi şûri (2679) from mulevven soups
***** Tutmaç in Ottoman
It is a soup cooked with cut dough and meat or minced meat and eaten by pouring yogurt on it. Tutmaç has been included in Turkish cuisine since very early times. Tutç, about which information is given in Divânu Lügâti't-Türk, started to be seen in both Arabian and Iranian cuisines before the 13th century. In the 16th century, it appears with two different names in the palace kitchen, as sour handle and pastry handle. (Isin, 2017: 393-394)
According to what we learned from the Surname, one of the soups mentioned in the 1582 Festival is Tutç soup:
Sourbaci with a lot of divisions
***** Fish in Ottoman
Although fish is one of the dishes in the Ottoman cuisine, it is known that it is not consumed enough in Istanbul, where there is a large variety of fish. It took some time for the Ottoman cuisine, which was accustomed to red meat due to the Central Asian food culture, to get used to fish. In the 15th century, it is clear from the sources that Mehmed the Conqueror was particularly fond of fish, and that even soup, stew and stuffed fish were made in the 17th century. (Yerasimos, 2014: 162-164)
Although the sources say that fish did not take place very much in the Ottoman banquet tables, fish has an important place among the dishes served in the 1582 Festival. Because the poet likened the tables to the sea because of the abundance of fish in this festival:
Gah would return to the sea, ser-i han
Mahîçe 'ayân instead of mahiyân
Balıgun Hod Duke's Parts
Reşk-i bahr eyledi ol et'âm (226-227)
***** Rice in Ottoman
Pilafs, one of the important dishes of
Turkish culinary culture, are prepared from bulgur, which is a processed form of rice or wheat. Rice, which emerged in many different varieties over time, is called grain in Ottoman cuisine or with names such as dane-i red, dane-i yellow, depending on the material added to it.
Pilaf is the main dish of the rich Ottoman tables, and since it was an expensive product that was difficult to reach, it remained the food of an elite until the end of the 17th century. Therefore, rice, which has a high social reputation, has a special place in the feasts given by the sultans. It can even be said that the richness of the treats at banquets is measured by the abundance of rice pilafs as well as meat. (Yerasimos: 2014: 113-114)
Pilaf was usually served with zerde both in soup kitchens and feasts. We see this also in the 1582 Festival:
One is zerde, one is pilaf-kesan
Withdrawn from the ma-hazar ring ayan (1356)
So much rice was served at this festival that the poet says that people cannot finish this pilaf by picking/sorting the rice, but can only be finished if Allah sends the ants and sparrows:
First of all, it is not possible to commit suicide nev'-i ins anun
It turns out that me'mûr ide ol hidmete Hak mur u usfûri (2681)
***** Muza'fer in the Ottoman Empire
It is a type of pilaf that has been the favorite of Ottoman tables with its taste and color from the 15th to the 18th centuries. This rice, which is especially served at banquet tables, is cooked with saffron and chicken. It is likened to the sun in terms of its victorious color, which was also served in the 1582 Festival:
Every head is given a course and muza'fer
Always a criminal body like a mihre (1857)
***** Bullshit in Ottoman
This dish, which is usually cooked with mutton, was one of the most consumed dishes in the 15th and 16th centuries. Under the name of Zirebâc, on Friday evenings, Ramadan and two feast evenings, in Fatih and Süleymaniye imarets in Istanbul and in Edirne II. It was served to the public in Bayezid Imaret. We also see it served in festivities. In addition, nonsense is described as a dessert made from figs, grapes, dates, rice and sugar in some sources (Pakalın, 1993: III/659):
In Kitâbü't-Tâbih, a 13th century cookbook, zirvâ is referred to as zîrbâc and is described as a meal with meat. (Perry, 2009: 49) Nonsense is mentioned as follows in the surnâme of Gelibolulu Âli:
Girgiyçün 'aselî cameme gah
He did the nonsense exposing the sipah (229)
***** Kebab in Ottoman
Undoubtedly, the most basic element in Turkish culinary culture stretching from Central Asia to the present day. In Ottoman cuisine, there is a wide variety of meat dishes made from cattle, small cattle, poultry and game animals. One of the most eaten meat dishes among these is kebab.
Kebab, which is widely used in the Middle Eastern culinary culture, is the name given to the method of cooking directly on fire or in a pot without water. Although today the term kebab means cooked meat, in Ottoman cuisine it is meant that different foods such as meat, chicken, fish or eggplant were cooked without water. There are various forms of kebab such as shish kebab, tandoori kebab, jizbiz kebab. (Yerasimos, 2014:84)
In the 1582 Festival, the cattle were cooked, fried and served whole by turning over the fire:
Beautiful gav
Burnt tin (2172)
Again, during this festival, thousands of shish kebabs were prepared and served:
Nice thousand kebab-i sîhî came
Ser-sentence karanful was mihi (1867)
***** Buryan in the Ottoman Empire
It is a lamb, chicken or fish type dish that is made into kebab by hanging it in a tandoor or by turning it on a skewer. Sometimes it is stuffed and cooked. In particular, we see that the word büryan, which is used for turning lamb, is also used for ox by Ali of Gallipoli.
In the 1582 Festival, the oxen were made whole, their meat was fried like a red fire and served as such:
Bryân did the sevr-i gerdûn
Germ-i hurshid and zemîn ü time (2159)
Bryân was made and all gâv
Crimson like a fire tin (2332)
***** Roasting in Ottoman
Meat that is eaten after being cooked and roasted in its own fat or that is frozen and stored is called meat. Roasted roasts made with red meat nowadays
It is made of goose, duck and chicken in this festival held in the 16th century:
rated goose u chicken roasts
Translations of the makiyan part (2140)
***** Mahmudiyye in Ottoman
It is one of the classical period Ottoman dishes. It is a sweet, fruity and doughy chicken dish. In some sources, there is information that it is a flour halva with almonds and apricots belonging to the 16th century Ottoman cuisine, and it is eaten by sprinkling sugar on it. (Isin, 2017: 254)
One of the dishes that Ali from Gallipoli included in the surname is mahmudiyya:
Yidi shol denlü me'muniyye found safety from hunger
Gedâ-yı nâ-şitânun became mahmûdiyye menfûrı (2680)
***** Salma in Ottoman
This dish, which is cooked with small pieces of dough in the form of money, got this name because it was boiled by releasing the dough into water. Salma, a very old Turkish dish, consists of dough pieces, meat, chickpeas, almonds, saffron, mint, vinegar, honey and garlic, according to the recipe given by Shirvani in the 15th century. (Yerasimos, 2002: 64)
This dish, which was cooked with lots of sugar and saffron at the circumcision festival in 1539 and served to the pashas and the ulema , also shows itself in the 1582 festival:
Halvâ, which is tabh-i a'cam-i hâs
Eyü bishmiş muza'fer ü selma (2139)
***** Yoghurt, Milk, Cream in Ottoman
We have included yoghurt, milk and cream under this heading, since they are not a meal, but are the basic foods served with meals. Milk, cream obtained from milk and yogurt made by fermenting milk were also served at banquet tables:
Yogurt u şîr cream with bowls
From seher bab-ı şaha virdi revnâk (415)
2. Desserts in Ottoman
The sweet culture and love of Turks developed after accepting Islam under the influence of Arabs. Therefore, it can be said that the effect of religion on the sweet eating habits of the Ottomans was great. Iftars opened with dates, gullaç, baklava and kadayifs eaten during Ramadan, ashura made in Muharram, halvah prepared after the dead and spilled bites show that dessert has a privileged place in religious customs. (Yerasimos, 2014: 237)
Honey or molasses were generally used in desserts in Ottoman cuisine, since sugar was low. However, sugar was preferred in the palace cuisine due to the same feature. In fact, candy is included in the gifts received at the weddings for the princes. (ReindlKiel, 2016: 84)
Desserts of Ottoman cuisine can be grouped as halva, fruit desserts, milk desserts and dumplings. Among these desserts, those whose names are mentioned in the surname of Âlî from Gallipoli are senbûse, me'mûniyye, baklava, halva, pudding, zerde and Güllaç.
Sugar is thought to represent love, the pleasant and desirable aspects of life in the Islamic world. Therefore, the abundant use of sugar even in meat and fish dishes can be regarded as a symbol of the sultan's love for his most important servants. (Reindl-Kiel, 2016: 84) Maybe this is why it was said that every blessing on the tables set in the 1582 Festival was so much delicious as if it was made of pure sugar:
Every blessing was from Mahz-i sukker
Tâ ola anun taste in layers (228)
Everyone who came to the invitation, after filling their bellies with doner kebabs at the feast, turned to desserts:
Face before everyone swirls
Sukkerli ta'ama offered straight (2110)
***** Senbuse in Ottoman
Sanbusak, which means triangle in Persian, is a savory or sweet pastry of the Safavid period cuisine in Iran, and it was named sanbusac in the 10th century, passing to the Abbasid cuisine. This food, which is known as senbuse in Turkish, is known as samsa among the people. (Isin, 2014: 233-234) Almonds, pistachios or walnuts are put into the sugary one and fried and poured into sherbet. We can say that it was served as a dessert in the 1582 Festival, since Âlî from Gallipoli mentioned it together with baklava in the surnâme: Veli was a Özge deryâ ni'met Bişerdi baklava senbûse folded (2121)
Because of its triangular shape, it has been compared to the stars with bread in another place: Senbûse vünan encüm, His face was dark from blessings (232)
***** Me'mûniyye in Ottoman
Me'muniyye is a dessert made by mixing chicken meat with honey, milk and rice flour. It is rumored that it took its name from Ma'mun, son of Harun Reşid. This dessert was born in 1469. It was among the dishes served at Mehmed's table, at the feast festivities in 1539, and at the Divan to the Venetian ambassador Andrea Badoero in 1574. (Yerasimos, 2002:130) We learn from Âlî from Gallipoli that it was also served in the 1582 Festival:
Yidi shol denlü me'muniyye found safety from hunger
Gedâ-yı nâ-şitânun became mahmûdiyye menfûrı (2680)
Presented nice feylesof-ı mevsûf
Me'muniye toldı astîn-i sof (2111)
***** Zerde in the Ottoman Empire
It is a kind of rice dessert that is cooked with saffron and gets this name because it is yellow in color. It was given this name because it dyes saffron yellow. (Pakalin, 1993: III/653)
In the Ottoman Empire, the Umayyad caliph Muaviye was accepted as the pir of the turmeric. In the first place, Hz. It was cooked after Hamza was martyred in the Battle of Uhud. One of the reasons why it is usually eaten on happy and blessed days such as Mevlid, Ramadan, Eid and wedding is that it has a yellow color, which is a symbol of joy. In the soup kitchens, apart from these special days, zerde was also served on Fridays. Zerde is usually eaten with rice. This tradition started to be seen from the 15th century. (Isin, 2017: 425)
There is a special reason why turmeric is served in public meals. Saffron, which gives it its yellow color, contains a pleasant, relaxing and relaxing substance. Therefore, it also prevents a fight and disagreement that may occur in such meetings. That's why they call saffron the Nasreddin Hodja of herbs. Saffron does the same job as Nasreddin Hodja makes people laugh wherever he is. In the 1582 Festival, we witness the combination of turmeric and rice:
One is zerde, one is pilaf-kesan
Withdrawn from the ma-hazar ring ayan (1356)
***** Güllâç in the Ottoman Empire
Güllaç, the name of which comes from the rose soup and is the indispensable dessert of the month of Ramadan, is prepared from starchy thin phyllo dough. The oldest gullaç recipe is from the 13th century. In this recipe, the liquid dough prepared with wheat starch and water or beaten egg white is poured on a sheet and cooked. Today, instead of wheat starch, a mixture of corn starch and water is preferred. In the Ottoman period, gullaç was usually made with sugar syrup, adding rose water, musk, cream, pistachio, almonds or hazelnuts. (Isin, 2017: 136)
It is known that in the 16th century, gullac was a dessert served in celebrations and festivals. Lâmi'î Çelebi states that Güllac was served at the feast given in his masnavi, in which he describes the festival held for the Conquest of Rhodes (1522). (Isin, 2009: 228) Güllaç took its place at the banquet tables in the 1582 Festival:
If he was a yog, who was the reveler?
It would be painful wedding rose (1839)
***** Halva in Ottoman
Halva is an Arabic word meaning sweet. That's why the Ottoman sweet books are called Hulviyyât or Haleviyyât.
It is a dessert made with sugar, oil, flour or semolina. The main ingredients of halva in Ottoman cuisine were flour, starch, oil, honey and water or milk. It is known that dates were also used in previous periods. While preparing halva, the flour or starch is roasted in a copper pot together with oil on a slow fire, and then a mixture of hot honey and milk is added. By adding almond, sometimes rose water or musk and sometimes cream, halvahs with different flavors and names are obtained. (Yerasimos, 2014: 248)
Sabuni halva made with starch, sesame oil, honey or sugar, halva made with wheat and rice flour and cream, and veterans halva prepared with flour for those who died in the war after the war are among the most well-known types of halva.
The most famous of the halvah made in the Helvahane in the palace is the zülabiye halva, which is sometimes forced to be bought from the market because it is consumed too much. (Bilgin, 2000: 58)
Gelibolulu Âlî mentions the existence of these halva varieties in the surnâme:
Halvâ-yı nuşâb and zülâb
Sabuni v ghaziyan gulab (1847)
Halvâ, which is tabh-i a'cam-i hâs
Eyü bishmiş muza'fer ü selma (2139)
***** Baklava in Ottoman
Baklava, a dessert made with yufka, is indispensable for celebrations, feasts and feasts in the Ottoman Empire. Baklava, which became an indispensable part of Ramadan tables, was served to the Janissary soldiers from the palace kitchen on the fifteenth day of Ramadan after the Cardigan-i Şerif procession. This treat, which was brought in the form of a procession, was called the Baklava Regiment. (Pakalin, 1993: I/149)
From the 16th century, it is seen that the race to increase the number of layers of baklava started among master cooks. In addition, as the number of layers increases, the baklava should not lose its light and crispy feature. Therefore, since achieving this requires ingenuity, baklava was used to measure the skill of the cooks. (Isin, 2014: 237) It was stated by Ali from Gallipoli that baklavas cooked in layers were served in the 1582 Festival:
Veli was an Özge deryâ, ni'met
Bişerdi baklava senbûse folded (2121)
***** Custard in Ottoman
It is a dessert prepared by adding sugar and rice flour to milk and boiling it. In the 13th and 14th century Arabic cookbooks, custard was a meaty, spicy and rice dessert, but in the 15th century Ottoman cuisine it became a milky dessert, sometimes with chicken meat. (Isin, 2017:276)
In Ottoman cuisine, milk desserts took less place than halva and fruit desserts.
The difficulty of getting milk from other regions to Istanbul markets without spoiling is effective in this. Therefore, milk consumption was not much until the middle of the 17th century. Custard was one of the most widely consumed milk desserts in Ottoman cuisine. It has been among the indispensables of feasts, banquets and sultan tables since the 15th century. (Yerasimos, 2002: 190)
In the 1582 Festival, pudding was served:
Sükkerî became a blessing nâ-mahsûr
Shir-i date muhallebi mawfûr (2138)
***** Pastries in Ottoman
Cheese, minced meat, spinach, etc. can be placed between the opened dough or phyllo. It is the name given to the pastry that is baked in various ways. Boreks, which are usually cooked in a round shape, are one of the important foods of Turkish cuisine.
In the records of the Ottoman period, the pastry is first encountered in the 15th century under the name of honey börek. In the 16th century, sugar pies, market pies, chicken pies, and syrup (with soup) pies were made. (Isin, 2017: 60)
Since the pastries are usually made in a round shape, they are mentioned together with the sun and the moon in the surnâme:
Yahud ol sufra idi 'alam-i jud
Available from Mihr ü meh Kurs-i Borek (231)
***** Donut in Ottoman
A bun, defined as a small round loaf of leavened, oily dough, can be savory or sweet. The name of the donut, which is a very old Turkish pastry, is mentioned in Divânü Lügâti't-Türk. The presence of a donut shop in the Ottoman palace is an indication of how much the donut was eaten.
(Isin, 2017: 89).
The buns are likened to the moon and the sun because they are round and their color is yellow:
Every şâm u seher, nice meals are sent
Nice donuts worth both kur-ı meh ü mihre (2303)
***** Ottoman Poğaça
Today, we witness the existence of pastry, one of the most consumed pastry foods, in the 16th century in the Surname of Gelibolulu Âlî. The pastry is not mentioned as one of the foods served at the banquet. However, it is stated that during the passing of the miller tradesmen, they grind their flour on the one hand and bake pastries on the other hand:
They came grinding their flour
Cooking the Bogata on one side (1296)
***** Nukl in the Ottoman Empire
The most commonly used equivalent of mezze in classical Turkish poetry is nukl or nakl. However, the nukl was preferred more by the poets (Onay, 2013: 292).
Snack foods consisting mostly of fruit, sugar dough and candies are called nukl or nokul. In the palace kitchen notebook of 1573-74, sükkerî nukl was mentioned together with sugar pastry and pastry. (Isin, 2017: 288) Gelibolulu Âli also used the expression nukl-ı sugar in his work:
Every nukl-dân-ı zer tolu nukl-i sugar okay
Sâgar tehî velîk deep in damâm (1385)
***** Drinks in Ottoman
In Turkish culinary culture, there are many beverages consumed with and after meals. Drinks consumed other than water, especially in Ottoman cuisine; Compote, sherbet, lemon juice, boza and coffee.
In the Ottoman food culture, alcoholic beverages were not served at the banquets within the framework of religious rules. Although there are groups in the society that consume wine, conversations with alcohol are excluded from the sacred ceremonial meals. (Faroqhi, 2014:46)
There are also many drinks served at the banquet tables along with the food. Âlî from Gallipoli drew attention to the richness of the drinks served in the 1582 Festival: Zeyn became hezar bowl ni'met
Özge color flavor in every bowl (1833)
***** Sherbet in Ottoman
It is the name of the drink obtained as a result of mixing fruit pulp, flower or spice with water and sugar. In the Ottoman palace, sherbets were produced in Helvehâne, a part of the kitchen. Sherbet, the main ingredient of which is composed of fruit and water, and supplemented with sugar, rose water, spices and many other scented substances according to taste, has been the most consumed liquid with meals and at other times.
Sherbet served at banquet tables in the Ottoman Empire is considered a privilege. For, serving sherbet during a banquet certainly indicated high rank, while others were offered a good spring water. (Faroqhi, 2016: 25)
Ali from Gallipoli talks about the thousands of delicious bowls of sherbet served in the 1582 Festival: Mâ-hasal became a blessing.
Nice thousand bowls of pure sherbet (234)
Sherbet pulled nice hundred piyale sherbet
Taste each and every one of them (1866)
***** Gülâb/Cüllab/Maverd in the Ottoman Empire
Rose water is obtained by evaporating rose petals in rain water or purified water, leaving them under the sun or without boiling. It is used in making many desserts such as Güllaç, water pudding, halva, dumplings, compote and jelly, or sprinkled on desserts. Since the 15th century, rose water has been produced in the palace. (Isin, 2010: 131-132)
Cullab, which means rose water in Persian, is obtained by distillation of rose petals. In this way, the scent and other features of the leaves of the rose are reflected in the water. Ziya Şükûn, in his work Ferheng-i Ziya, states that cüllâb is a syrup obtained by boiling rose water and sugar. (Şükün, 1996:
1/657)
It is mentioned in more than one couplets in the Surnâme as gulab, cüllâb or maverd:
Meyden cost rose-ab and envâ'-i esribe
Keeped pitcher and goblet ü nice meşrebe (1384)
Because rose-ab-i nâb was filled with the bowl of murassa.
But be all around, arak is a dream (1387)
Ya'ni two qawm-i pur-tef u tab
One kebab and one cullab (1864)
Glass with zer-bowls to become zerrin goblets
Toldurdı jelly moments are ok with maverd (167)
***** Rose Wine in Ottoman
Since wine is used in Arabic in a general sense to meet the drinks, the wine here can be thought of as sherbet or syrup. Rose sherbet is a sherbet in which fragrant rose petals are kept in water in a bottle or jar in the sun for a while, then the leaves that leave their color and decay, are filtered and prepared by mixing sugar.
We see that rose sherbet, which is known to be consumed too much, was also served in the 1582 Festival:
Very rose wine sâgar-ı zerrîne virdi fer
Ammâ yog anda work from bade-i rose-gun (1386)
The Assembly becomes that Shah-i-dehre, zikr-i Hakk
Mâverd ü rose wine is enough bade vü'arak (1391)
***** Boza in Ottoman
The origin of the word Boza comes from buze, which means millet in Persian. In addition to the name Boza, it is also known by names such as buha and merissa in the Caucasus, Balkan countries, Turkic Republics, Iran, Egypt, Arab countries and some African tribes. Boza, a fermented grain-based beverage; It is produced by grinding grains such as millet, corn, rice, rye, oats, wheat, cooking by adding water and then subjecting them to lactic acid fermentation with yeast by adding sugar.
Orta Asya Türkleri bozayı çok eski zamanlardan beri üretmektedir. Türkler, Orta Asya’dan göç ettikleri farklı coğrafyalarda o bölge halkına bozayı tanıtmışlar ve bugünkü coğrafî yayılışını da sağlamışlardır. Geleneksel bir Türk içeceği olan boza, Balkanlar, Kırım, Kafkasya, Orta Asya ve Mısır’a kadar yayılmış durumdadır. (Levent-Cavuldak, 2017: 301)
Boza has been sold as a mobile for centuries, as it is today, as well as in shops. Tatar Gypsies and especially Albanians are communities whose names were mentioned with bozaism in the Ottoman period. It is known that boza makers, who go out after dark in autumn and winter, sell their own mani. Bozahanes, which were opened in Anatolia and which are almost entirely under state control, produced sweet boza, which is considered halal. However, the religious authority has always kept a distance from the boza. The sultanate, who saw that the prohibition of liquor was broken with boza, sometimes included the boza houses, which caused the people to lose their peace, within the scope of the ban.
Ebussuud Efendi, the Shaykh al-Islam of the Kanuni era, issued a fatwa for those who made sweet boza, drank it, and went to boza shops and had fun there. In some boza shops run by non-Muslims, alcoholic boza, which is described as sour or bitter, is also available. These places turned into places of tavern regulars and rabble-rousers during the prohibition of alcohol. It has also been the subject of poems in which wine addicts prefer sour/bitter boza in case of necessity and make a disgrace in boza shops (Ceylan, 2007: 50-54).
Although there is no information that it is served at banquet tables, one of the tradesmen's regiments that pass during the festivities is boza makers. The poet expresses it like this:
This is how the boza-house men came
Cevzî was taken to boza, nice bowl of ore (1394)
***** Coffee in Ottoman
The first place of origin of coffee is Abyssinia. Although there are different narratives about the emergence of coffee, the beginning of the story mentioned in many sources is that coffee was first discovered by goats. Iranian shepherd Kaldi saw herds of goats and camels show great vitality after eating the fruit of a strange tree, and even goats dance in the moonlight. He explained the situation to his dervishes and Şazili, a famous dervish, boiled the fruits of the tree shown and drank its water. He felt the same vitality in himself, so the centuries-long history of coffee began (Isin, 2001:12).
It is said that there is no evidence of the existence of the coffeehouse institution before the 16th century. However, it is estimated that coffee was consumed as a beverage in Ottoman Istanbul palaces, mansions and lodges since the beginning of the century.
The Ottomans probably encountered the first traces of coffee when they took Cairo in 1517. As a matter of fact, the first coffeehouses in Istanbul will develop in a social environment similar to those in Cairo, in religious, commercial and educational centers that are the living space of the middle class urbanites. It is said that the first coffeehouse of Istanbul was opened in Tahtakale, the most lively center of commerce in the city, by two people named Hekim and Shams, who came from Aleppo and Damascus. (Değirmenci, 2015: 120)
Coffee is one of the drinks included in classical Turkish poetry. Different features of coffee, which is seen as an alternative to wine, are included. Ali from Gallipoli also stated in the surname that coffee came from Yemen:
Coffee was Yemen's habibi, bade shûh-ı Rum
Deteriorated and returned to boza kudûm-i şûm (1395)
Conclusion
As a result, the surnames in general, especially the surname of Gelibolulu Âlî named Câmi'u'l-Buhûr Der Mecâlis-i Sûr, presents us the Ottoman palace weddings and many colors in these weddings down to the smallest detail. Feasts and the food served at these banquets is one of them.
In such feasts, we see that every kind of food imaginable, from soups to kebabs, from pastries to desserts, from pilaf to all kinds of drinks, is served.
As we can see in the sample couplets we have chosen from the work, the Ottoman food culture is very rich. Especially desserts and sherbets are much more diverse than what we have included here. This shows us how our cultural diversity is reflected on our tables. In addition, the meals served reveal how much care was given to the banquet tables in the Ottoman palace weddings.
1 The couplets included in this study are taken from Mehmet ARSLAN's work titled Verse Surnames in Turkish Literature (Ottoman Palace Weddings and Festivals).
2 Halvâ, which is tabh-ı a'cam-i hâs
Eyü bishmiş muza'fer ü salmâ (2139)
3 Duck and goose
Tolmusdı miyan u sahn u pervâz (2109)
4 https://www.tarihtarih.com/?Syf=26&Syz=366311.
Ottoman Food Culture in the Surname of Ali from Gallipoli
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As the head chef Ahmet ÖZDEMİR, I see the source:
Ms. Assist. Assoc. Dr. I sincerely thank Şerife AĞARI for her academic studies titled "Ottoman Food Culture in the Surname of Ali of Gallipoli" and wish her success in her professional life . It will definitely be considered as an example by those who need it in professional kitchens, related research and in the world of gastronomy.