Meal Times and Breakfast in Ottoman Culture

Assoc. Dr. Ozge Samanci

 

One of the first studies on meal times in Ottoman culture was included in the work titled "Turkish Cuisine Symposium Papers" published by Süheyl Ünver in 1982. In short, Ünver states that in his article titled "Mealing Methods and Times in the Seljuks, Principalities and Ottomans", two meals a day are eaten in all three cultures, and that the first meal is referred to as the mid-morning meal. This meal is eaten sometime between morning and noon. It is almost not customary to eat something very early in the morning after the morning prayer.

 

Dinner, the second meal of the day, is eaten in the light before the sun goes down'. According to travelogues and memoirs that talk about Ottoman social life, there is a tradition of eating only two meals a day in Ottoman culture. Morning or mid-morning meal (total) eaten between ten and twelve in the morning and dinner before sunset. For example, in Mouradgea d'Ohhson's important work, which examines the 18th century Ottoman culture from many different aspects, it is noted that two meals a day are eaten. The author states that besides morning and evening meals, snacks such as snacks and fruit are also made during the day and in the evening3. In the Ottoman Palace, meals are eaten twice a day. 

 

The custom of eating two meals a day in Ottoman society immediately brings the following questions to mind: Do the people who start their day from the morning prayer stay hungry until 10:00-11:00? Although this seems possible for those who do not need to exert physical strength in urban life, is the villager who will get up early in the morning and go to work in the field? Well, then, how long has the term Turkish breakfast and breakfast, which has a unique quality according to many cultures, been known?

 

Since there is no study on this subject today, we can only answer the first question by guessing. "The custom of drinking soup in the morning," which was probably common in villages until recently, was also practiced in the Ottoman past. Perhaps, since the early morning snacks to suppress the stomach do not constitute a real meal, they were not found in written sources under the name of a basic meal. 

 

Meal Times and Breakfast in Ottoman Culture

 

The answer to the second question about the term breakfast constitutes this main subject. Before moving on to the findings on the subject, it would be appropriate to first state that the term coffee gold, which is derived from the word coffee, was not likely to be known in the Ottoman society until the 16th century, when coffee consumption began.

 

The word six for coffee turned into breakfast with the drop of the thin e. Secondly, it is clear that the custom of eating two meals a day was not only found in Ottoman culture, but in Europe, for example, in France, until the 19th century, elites had twice a day, the first meal (tongues) between 10:00 am and 12:00 pm, and the second meal (souper) before sunset in the evening. It should be noted that they ate. The early morning meal called "Dejeuner" is only recommended for children and patients. Peasants and workers, on the other hand, ate four meals, not two, according to the nobility5. 

 

According to the written sources describing the Ottoman palace and mansion culture, the tradition of basically eating two meals a day continued until the end of the 19th century and even the beginning of the 20th century. According to many memories and memoirs, two meals a day are eaten: in the morning and in the evening before sunset. For example, Balıkhane Minister Ali Rıza Bey talks about the custom of eating two meals a day in the Ottoman palace, saying, "The palace is full for the morning, and the whole evening comes after the afternoon prayer. This is also from the time of Osman Gazi."

 

According to the Ottoman palace, Ottoman Kitchen History accounting records, meals were prepared in the palace twice a day: subh (morning) and mesa (evening). However, according to the sources we have, a meal that is not considered as a meal under the name of coffee is also known in the Ottoman palace and mansion circles in the 19th century. For example, according to Leyla Saz, who wrote her memoirs about Ottoman palace life in the second half of the 19th century, in addition to the meal eaten twice a day in the palace, there was also an early morning meal consisting of honey, cream, cheese, jam, and sometimes eggs and cold meat. has a habit of having breakfast'. According to the author, before breakfast , sweet foods such as jam and appetizing delicacies such as cheese, olives, sausage, smoked meat, caviar, green salad are served on large trays.

 

Meal Times and Breakfast in Ottoman Culture

 

mid-morning 

The Arabic word for bird is duha. The time (hour, minute) found when one fourth of the time from sunrise to sunset is added to the sunrise time is the mid-morning time. The mid-morning time is divided into three: Young mid-morning, mid-morning, and rough mid-morning. 

 

Calculating the mid-morning time: For example, sunrise is 04h:20 and sunset is 20:30. When the sunrise time is subtracted from the sunset time, the daytime is 16 hours and 10 minutes. If 16 hours is a quarter of 10 minutes, then 4 hours and 3 minutes. When 4 hours and 3 minutes are added to the sunrise time, 08:23 is the exact mid-morning time. "T. Kut"

 

It is a custom in the palace to be brought from the kitchen to the harem in copper pots covered with fabric. In fact, apart from the monthly basic food allowance, it is another custom to give the sultan's daughters bread, milk or butter, simit, pita, unsalted white cheese specially made for the palace, and cream in small copper containers with lids and locks on a silver tray9. In another work, which contains vivid and detailed accounts of the last period of the 19th century, the writer Abdülaziz Bey states that after the prayer in the vüzera and ekabir mansions, the storekeeper brought breakfast to the owner of the house, and then coffee and sticks were given by the coffee shopkeeper. The morning meal is then eaten in the harem or selamlık.

 

The guests staying in the Bosphorus mansions for breakfast are "butter, honey, or two kinds of jam, some cheese, some fresh bread and a glass of hot milk with sugar, on old metal or Saxony plates in vineyard trays, with small towels with their heads embroidered with white silk. Together, the coffee trays were placed in front of each guest separately, the nightingale would rest while breakfast was being eaten, and then the coffee and chopsticks would come.” Afterwards, we chatted and rested until dinner time, and then fried chicken, stuffed gum and zucchini, lamb meat was eaten with iced compotes.

 

Although Ali Rıza Bey, the Minister of Fisheries mentioned above, does not mention the morning breakfast when he talks about the two meals a day in the palace, he talks about a night breakfast tradition called "Isha' stay": The night breakfast, which is called "isha", is also prepared. This duty belongs to the cellar journeymen.' 

 

A breakfast table found at the end of the cookbook Ev Kadını, which was published in Istanbul in 1882-1883, is another example that shows that the breakfast 'custom was known in the late Ottoman culture. In the breakfast table drawing, which is among the Turkish and European table drawings, the small cheese, olives, jam plates, bread plates and forks and knives in the middle of the table are shown. 

 

The last example can be given from the memoirs of Ayşe Sultan, the daughter of Sultan Abdülhamit, in order to show that the custom of having breakfast was known in the Ottoman elite at the end of the 19th century. Ayşe Osmanoğlu states that the meals eaten in the palace are mainly during lunch and dinner. Lunch is eaten at eleven, dinner at five, according to the palace style. Eating at these times has always been the custom of the palace. The author does not describe breakfast as the main meal in his memoirs, but states that Sultan Abdülhamit, who was not fond of his stomach, had a very light breakfast and usually drank Çitil mineral water with milk: 

 

"His custom was to go to bed early and wake up early. He would get up before the sun in the morning and go to the bathhouse and take his bath. He had a sofa built to sit on the outer floor of the bath. He would sit there, get dressed, pray the morning prayer there, then have his breakfast. He had a very light breakfast as he had a habit of taking a laxative before getting out of bed. ...he would mix half a glass of milk with mineral water and drink it. ...he would deal with official affairs until eleven o'clock. When the meal was ready, he would go to the Harem and sit down to dinner with my mother"15. 

 

By looking at the narratives we gave as examples, it is possible to say that mainly in the second half of the 19th century, meals were eaten twice a day in the Ottoman Palace and Istanbul mansions, but it is also common to have a snack before drinking coffee under the name of breakfast. According to Sevan Nişanyan, the term breakfast, which is defined as what is eaten in order not to drink coffee on an empty stomach, as a snack, is first mentioned in Şeyhülislam Esad Efendi's dictionary named Polisht-ül Lugat, dated 1732'.

 

According to Esat Efendi, the Arabic word for breakfast is sulfe and lühne; In Persian it means "piş-hared (pre-course meal) or çaşt, nim-çâşt and nihdri". Accordingly, the history of breakfast goes back to the 19th century. The term breakfast is also mentioned in Ahmet Vefik Pasha's Lugat-ı Osmani, which was published in 1876. It is important to note that the term breakfast has been in Ottoman sources since the middle of the 18th century, as it reveals that it is difficult to trace the origin of the term to Italian "coffe latte (coffee with milk)", as some researchers suggest. 

 

In the Kamus-ı Türki dictionary prepared by Şemsettin Sami at the beginning of the twentieth century, breakfast is defined in the same way: "Six coffee: (1) a concise [short, little] meal eaten before coffee, mainly to avoid drinking coffee on an empty stomach. (2) Beyond mealtime." and what is taken out and eaten on a tray other than the table is concise and food from the mahazar."' Based on these definitions, as expressed in Kamus-i Türki, breakfast is not a main meal, but rather small, trivial foods that are eaten before drinking coffee to relieve the stomach in the morning. It is possible to say that it is a small meal eaten.

 

This small meal, in which ready-made foods such as cheese, olives, jam, and sausage are eaten with bread, can be consumed not only in the morning, but at night or any time of the day to suppress hunger. The biggest difference from today's breakfast is that there is no tea or coffee. The introduction of tea and coffee with milk into breakfast is an innovation from European culture. At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, it began to be unknown in elite circles in Istanbul. Before moving on to this part of the story, it should be noted that the term breakfast is also expressed in Anatolian terms such as coffeealtı, tobaccoaltı, stickaltı, cagaraaltı, cibıgalti [çubukaltı] , sar-fahk [safralık], according to Burhan Oğuz.' 

 

Since the end of the 19th century, as a result of the interactions with Western culture, with the new working hours and conditions brought by modernization, breakfast has been defined as the third meal in the Ottoman society, especially in Istanbul and cities. European table manners= In parallel with its adoption in elite circles at the beginning of the 20th century, the habit of having breakfast with coffee with milk, tea or shockola (cocoa) started to be recognized gradually'. For example, in the article "Taam" in the women's magazine Bilgi Yurdu Işigt, which was published in 1917, the importance of breakfast was emphasized while explaining how many meals a day should be eaten.

 

It has been stated that breakfast, which is suitable for everyone between six and nine o'clock according to their work, should be done as a family at a carefully set table like lunch and dinner. In the same article, the author stated that the old-fashioned way of eating twice a day, at 11:00 in the morning and at 18:00 in the evening, is very inappropriate for civilized life, because these hours are business hours. The author expresses a pleasing development that since the lunch break for civil servants in official offices has been determined as 12:00, meal times have also been determined for families. He describes the content of breakfast as follows:

 

"From coffee with milk and tea or shock-chocolate to soft-boiled eggs, butter, honey, jam, marmalade, biscuits, buns and bread, cheese and olives, which are ni'amu'l-refik, the arrangement of coffee gold is a bit of pleasure, like other dishes, and most of all. As Muhtar Katırcıoğlu stated, the hotels in Pera and Galata also had an impact on the learning and spread of the habit of rey and tensib to have breakfast with milk coffee, tea or shockola in Kesedar Efendi.

 

At the same time, it should be noted that the didactic style newspaper and magazine articles and modern etiquette books that we gave an example above also played a role in the spread of this habit. For example, Ahmet Mithat, while describing meal times in Europe in his book Avrupa Adab-ı muaşereti or Alafranga, published in 1894, "in the morning before dejeuner [lunch] they have a fine breakfast consisting of coffee or tea with milk, and bread, butter, honey, etc." They are called 'the first dejeurier',' he states. 

 

As breakfast began to be defined and adopted as a meal like morning and evening meals, meal times began to shift slowly in Ottoman elite circles. First, the morning meal turned into lunch. The definition of business hours according to European time is an important factor in the change of meal times. Thus, the tradition of breakfast at seven-eight in the morning, lunch at twelve-one, and dinner between seven and nine in the evening emerged.

 

As we mentioned earlier, two meals were mainly eaten in Europe until the middle of the 19th century: between 10:00 and 12:00 in the morning and dinner towards 17:00. Morning breakfast, which is said as breakfast in English and petit-4euner in French, caused the shift of meal times with the regulation of working hours in Europe in the 19th century and was defined as the first meal of the day, together with lunch and dinner. 26 It can be said that meal times were redefined in Ottoman urban culture, as in the West, through the conditions brought by modernization and industrialization, and breakfast now gained a privileged place in it. 

 

The history of tea, the indispensable accompaniment of breakfast today, is almost simultaneous with the definition of breakfast as a meal. As it is known, coffee is a popular beverage that has been widely consumed in Ottoman society since the 16th century. Coffee, which is consumed not only in the morning but at all hours of the day, has left its place to tea quite late, at the beginning of the 20th century. In Ottoman society, tea was only a beverage consumed as medicine.

 

According to the sources of the period, from the middle of the 19th century onwards, tea began to be consumed in Ottoman society in addition to coffee. After the republican period, with the start of tea production in the Rize region, tea has become a traditional Turkish beverage and now it has become an indispensable accompaniment to the breakfast delicacies eaten before coffee in the cities. 

 

 

Meal Times and Breakfast in Ottoman Culture

 

*Dr., Yeditepe University.

l) Turkish Cuisine Symposium Proceedings, Ankara: Milad, 1982.

2) Ünver, Süheyl, "Mealing Methods and Times in Elçuldular, 13eyli.lders and Ottomans", Turkish Meatman Symposium Proceedings, Ankara: MlFAiI Ankara I•jniv. Publishing House, 19821 p. 1-15.

3) D'C)hsson, M., (Günç;ral de l'Empire Othoman said roie de Patis: 1788. Volume 2, pp. 30-31.   

4) See. Same number of MH Sauner.

Yıldız Porcelain breakfast plates, Dolmabahçe Warehouse Museum. Photos: Bilal Arslan.

5) Fiandriin, JL, "Les repas en France CL dans les pays cllEurope", Tables dTlicr Tabies d'Aillciirs, Paris: C)clile Jacob, 19991

s. 198-201.

6) Minister of Fisheries Ali Rıza Bey, The Dream of Istanbul in Ancient Times (pre. Çoruk, A.Ş.) Istanbul: Bookstore, 2001, p. 321,

7) Samanci, Ozge. La (jullurc Cl[linaire d'lstjinbil CIII XIX'c style: L'alimenta(ion, les techniques (ililiaircs et les manit-cs [le tablc, unpublished cloctora thesis, EFIESS, 2009, p. 354.

8) Saz, Leyla,. The Inıpc-ıi (IIhe -Sultans, trans. Thomas, istanbul: Peva Publications. ) 1995, p. -1 09 1

Ozge Sanicinci

"The Breakfast Table" Housewife, Ayşe Fahriye, (1882-83),

P. 440. 1) (Ijatal, knife, spoon stand.

2) Neliale

3) Cheese, jam, olives etc.

4) Bread plates

9) Age p. 104-105.

10) Abdulaziz Bey, Ottoman Customs, Ceremonies and Expressions, ed. Ansan, K. Gunay, D. A, Istanbul: History Vaki] Yurt Publishing,

1995, p. 280.

11) Age p. 288-289.

12) The term Ishalik reminds of the meal eaten at night known as “yai gcberlik” in Konya folk culture. See l-lalicn Nevin, Traditional Konya Meals, Ankara: 1979, p, 9.

13) Minister of Fisheries Ali Rıza Bey, 323.

14) Ayşe Fahriye, Housewife, Isianbıl: Mahmut Bey Printing House, 1300 (1882), p. 440.

15) Osmanoglu, Ayse. My father Abdülhamit, Güven Publishing House, Istanbul, 1960, p. 20-23.

16) http://www.nisanyansozluk.com/seavch.asp?wAahva11%FD

17) Şeyhülislam Esad E[endi, [-ehçc[ü'l (1732) ed. Ahınc [ Kırkkilic, p. 372.

18) http://www.nisanyansozluk.com/search.asp?wzkahvalt0/âFD

19) Katircioglu, Muhtar. "Ottoman Culinary Habits", First International Food Congress Turkey 25-30 September 1986) Ankara: Ministry of Culture and Tourism Publication, 19881 pp. 163-164.

20) Şemsettin Sami, Kamus-[ Türki, Der Saadet: 1317, p. 1 121.  

21) Oguz, Burhan, Turki_yc Halktnn. Cultural Origins 1 Introduction Nutrition Technique, Istanbul: Anadolu Enlightenment Foundation Publications 2002, (First edition 1976), p. 827. In the Dcrlenie Dictionary published by TDK, the term breakfast is not encountered. 22) Samancı, Ö. , La Ct[ltrc Culinaire, p. 388.

23) Macid Şevkel, l'Taarri”, Bilgi Yıı.rdtı Işık, Istanbul: 15 October 1917, no. 7, p. IOth104.

24) Katırcıoğlu, M, "Oltoman CLIIary Habits".

25) Ahmet Mithat, European Aclab-ı İvluaşct-e(i or Alafranga, (pre.) Doğan, İsmail, Gurbetoğluı, Ali. To the bees: Akç•zığ 

s. 100-101.

26) JL Flandrin, "Les Heurcs des repai; en France avant Ic XIXe sibclelZ Le [CHIPS de mcligcr, (od) Aymarcli M. Grignon, C. Sabban, F. Paris : 1993, 5.209. 

27) On tea, see. Kuzucu, Kemalettin, Tea as a New Taste in Beverage Culture, (prev.)., Bilgin, A.. Samancı, Turkish Muçfrığı, Ankara: Ministry of Culture and Tourism Spring 2008, pp_ 243-259.