Daily Life In The Ottoman Empire (36 page)

The sumptuous meal was always accompanied by a variety of
breads and sherbets. Stewed and sugared fruits, as well as dried fruits, “especially
raisins, currants, apricots, and figs, at times together with the fresh
varieties,” were also served. Dried fruits were also heavily used in various
dishes. Sometimes the
böreks
were filled “not only with minced meat and
onions, but also with dried apricots, currants, dates, chestnuts, and apples.” Raisins,
currants, chestnuts, and almonds were also used as ingredients in rice dishes.

The meals for the secretaries, scribes, and servants of the
imperial council were not only of lower quality, but they were limited to two
dishes, consisting mostly of rice or wheat soup, or plain rice, or a wheat dish
that contained eggs, and a yogurt soup called
mastabe,
which was made of
“clarified butter, meat, onions, chickpeas, yogurt, and probably, parsley.” The
simplicity of the menu for the lower-rank members of the imperial divan was
also reflected by the absence of sweet dishes.

The diversity and richness of the Ottoman culinary culture
was best demonstrated when the palace organized large banquets in honor of a
visiting foreign dignitary or celebrated the circumcision of a prince of the
royal family or the arrival of the Festival of Sacrifice. Many of the same
dishes that appeared on the normal menu for the divan remained, but the order
of serving changed, and at times, the quantity of meat and sweets increased.
Meat dishes such as chicken ragouts, sheep’s rump ragout, roasted pigeons,
chickens, ducks, and geese were added, while sweet dishes and pastries were
also increased significantly. In the banquets that were held in the palace, the
quantity of leftovers was so large that after the guests had finished their
meal, the janissaries were invited to practice the custom of “plundering” the
food (
yağma)
. If the banquet was held outside the palace, servants
and attendants, as well as the ordinary subjects of the sultan, were encouraged
to participate in the “plunder.”

FOOD FOR THE RICH AND POWERFUL

Outside the palace, the diet of the rich and powerful
Ottoman differed significantly from that of the lower classes. Wealthy families
imitated the manners of the sultan, his harem, and high government officials.
Their meals included egg or
börek,
meat, cold and hot vegetables with
butter, rice, and pastry or pudding. The main meal was taken in the evening,
with the rich eating “soup, spiced dishes of rice and meat, white cheese,
fruit, bread, and jam, all washed down with glasses of coffee or tea.”

Wealthy Turks relied heavily on lamb as the principal meat
in their daily diet. They “preferred mutton to any other meat, and it was
served at nearly every meal for those who could afford it.” Sheep heads and
trotters were a favorite dish. At times, “zucchini and eggplant were stuffed
with finely chopped mutton mixed with garlic, spices, and salt and cooked in
plain water.” Sometimes carrots were stuffed in the same manner or “vine leaves
were rolled round a similar mixture of chopped meat and stewed with sour plums
placed under them in the water.” Yogurt was often used as a sauce, and it was
spread on the stuffed eggplant, zucchini, and vine leaves before they were
served.

Aside from lamb, goat and deer meat were also consumed in
the Anatolian provinces of the empire. Beef was not popular among the Ottomans,
and it was difficult to buy, particularly in Istanbul. According to the Turkish
scholar Metin And, the Turks did not know “how to cook rabbits, hares, deer,
and other game with spices,” but they had several specialized techniques for
preparing chicken. Stewed chicken “was cut up and put into rice soup, and
parsley or cinnamon was sprinkled on top just before it was served.” Roasted
chicken was usually stuffed with spices and onions. The popularity of chicken
was such that many shops sold chickens roasted in big ovens. These ovens, which
resembled limekilns, “had either one or two shelves, and the heat from red-hot
embers came up through holes in the bottom.” The chicken, and at times other
meat, was placed in “a covered earthenware pot so it cooked in its own steam.” Most
meat dishes were cooked in sauces flavored with spices such as pepper and
saffron. Bread dough was often “placed on the tray beside the pot so it was
baked at the same time.” A variety of rice dishes, ranging from
chilau
(white
rice without any ingredients) or pilaf (rice with different roasted meats such
as chicken, duck, partridge), and kebabs of lamb were mainstays of the diet.
Vegetables such as carrots, green beans, and lentils, together with dried or
cooked fruits and nuts, such as barberries, raisins, almonds, pine nuts,
pistachios, orange peels, mulberries, and dates, were also central to the daily
meals.

Islam prohibited eating “all quadrupeds” that seized “their
prey with their teeth, and all birds” that seized their kill “with their talons.”
“Hyenas, foxes, elephants, weasels, pelicans, kites, carrion, crows, ravens,
crocodiles, otters, asses, mules, wasps, and in general all insects,” as well
as dogs, cats, and “fish dying of themselves,” were forbidden to Muslims.

FOOD AND EATING AMONG THE POOR

As “in all pre-modern empires, there was a major difference
between the cuisine of the palace and that of the countryside.” Rice, for
example, “was the mainstay of the imperial kitchen, while peasants in Anatolia
and Syria ate boiled cracked wheat (bulgur).” Olive oil “was used by the elite
while peasants inland from the Mediterranean coast used animal fats; butter in
the Balkans, [and] sheep fat in Anatolia and the Arab provinces.”

In sharp contrast to the rich, the poor of the Ottoman
Empire ate a simple diet based entirely on cereals, locally grown vegetables,
beans, lentils, peas, pumpkins, and radishes. Here the food was usually cooked
in a little stove. At times, their diet included black bread and rice, “which
they ate off wooden platters using three fingers” followed by “inexpensive
yogurt” and accompanied by “water to drink.” Among the poor, dairy products,
such as sour milk, were accompanied, “depending on the season, by cucumbers or
melons, an onion, or leek, or stewed dried fruit.”
Kaymak,
“a slightly
salted boiled cream, and cheeses preserved in leather bottles (
tulum)
,
in wheels (
tekerlek)
, or in balls, such as the famous
cascaval,”
a
“cheese made of ewes’ milk subjected to repeated boiling,” were also popular
among the poor.

On special occasions, the family might share a chicken stew
or “chicken and mutton cooked together in one pot with rice” without adding “any
liquid so the rice soaked up all the juices of the meat.” The shortage of
refrigeration in rural communities caused most perishable foods to be produced
and consumed locally. Peasants both in Anatolia and the Balkans consumed a
variety of fresh and dried fruits. The most popular fresh fruits were apples,
cherries, pears, figs, grapes, apricots, melons, pomegranates, and plums that
were grown in gardens and orchards. The inhabitants of these regions did not
originally have access to tomatoes, potatoes, corn, peanuts, red and green
(bell) peppers, and turkey, which arrived later from Central or North America
in the 16th century. Honey was the universal sweetener.

Though the food might not be as sumptuous among the poor as
that found in the palace and the private homes of the rich and powerful, “hygiene
was nevertheless strictly observed during the preparation and consumption of
food.” These strict rules also applied to stall owners who were warned in an
imperial edict issued by the government that “owners of hot food stalls,
sellers of cooked sheep’s heads, makers of filo pastries—in short, all makers
and sellers of food—must prepare it cleanly and thoroughly,” and “they must
wash the dishes with clean water, and dry them with clean cloths.” The
offenders were warned that the market supervisor with the sanction and approval
of a religious judge would punish them. Everyone had to also respect the rules
relating to spoons: “only the right half of spoon—the landing side—was to be
dipped into the communal bowl, the left side being used to raise the food to
the lips.” For “all other dishes,” the Ottomans “used the right hand, as the
left was for wiping the body and was therefore considered unclean,” and “between
courses, they always washed their hands and dried them with fresh towels.” Like
the wealthy, the poor did not use tables and chairs. Instead, “a special mat
was often placed on the floor to serve as a table.”

Rich or poor, young or old, women or men, the people of the
Ottoman Empire loved Turkish sweetmeats. The very popular custard known as
muhallebi
“was made with rice, milk, flour, sugar, and butter, and flavored with
rosewater or other scents.” Another sweetmeat was prepared by dropping a
spoonful of egg-and-flour batter on a hot metal plate and allowing it to cook
and spread like a pancake. Once the pancake had been shaped, it was then “covered
with a very thick layer of sugar flavored with rose-water and chopped almonds
or walnuts, and folded over and over to make several layers.”

Regardless of class and social background, Ottoman Turks
ate their meals without pomp and ceremony. They sat cross-legged on carpets and
rugs preferably in a flower garden or on the grass by a river or a creek “set
with rows of trees” where the shade was “very thick.” The food was either
served on a
sofra,
a large piece of cloth or leather, or on a very low
table that could easily be reached from the ground. Travelers usually carried
with them a
sofra
“made of red or yellow leather with a string threaded
round it so that it could be opened or shut like a purse.” Among the poor who
could afford only one dish, the members of the family sat around the cooking
pot or a large plate or tray, prayed, and then ate together as a group, using
their fingers since they did not use knives or forks. Even the rich and the
powerful sometimes ate directly from the cooking-pot. The food was always eaten
in silence.

PLEASURES OF DRINKING AND SMOKING

Coffee

It is generally believed that coffee originated in Ethiopia
or Yemen and emerged as a popular beverage in the Ottoman Empire sometime in
the 16th century. According to one author, “there is no mention of coffee in
any source before the 16th century.” There is some disagreement on exactly when
coffee arrived in Istanbul. The French historian Fernand Braudel wrote that
coffee had been introduced to Cairo as early as 1510 and Istanbul as early as
1517. The Ottoman traveler Evliya Çelebi stated that the new black beverage was
first brought to the Ottoman capital in 1543. The historian Mustafa Ali,
however, wrote that the first coffeehouses of Istanbul opened for business in
1552 or 1553, while another historian, Ibrahim Peçevi, maintained that coffee
and coffeehouses appeared in Istanbul in 1554–1555. Coffee was most probably
introduced from Yemen to Mecca by the first decade of the 16th century.
Coffeehouses in the holy city were bustling with customers before the Ottoman
armies defeated the Mamluks in 1516 and 1517, and imposed their rule over the
Arab Middle East. From Yemen and Arabia, coffee was brought to Egypt and Syria,
and from there to Istanbul and other urban centers of the empire. It is not
surprising, therefore, that the Turkish word for coffee,
kahve,
originated
from the Arabic word,
qahwa,
and it was through the Ottomans that it was
then introduced to Europe, where it was adopted as
kaffe, caffe, café,
and
coffee, all originating in the Turkish pronunciation of the original Arabic
word.

As the popularity of the new black drink spread,
coffeehouses sprang up in Istanbul and other urban centers of Anatolia and the
Arab Middle East. They soon emerged “as the very center of male public life” in
the Ottoman Empire. The historian Mustafa Ali, who was writing at the end of
the 16th century, observed that in Cairo, there were “thousands of
coffeehouses.” The spread of coffee and coffeehouses was not without major
controversy. Acting as the guardians of public morals, the conservative ulema
denounced the new drink as the work of the devil. The Ottoman historian and
chronicler Ibrahim Peçevi, who stood with the conservatives in opposition to
coffee and later tobacco, wrote in 1635 that:

Until the year 962 (1555), in the high, God-guarded city of
Constantinople, as well as in the Ottoman lands generally, coffee and
coffeehouses did not exist. About that year, a fellow called Hakam from Aleppo,
and a wag called Shems from Damascus, came to the city: they each opened a
large shop in the district called
Tahtalkale,
and began to purvey
coffee. These shops became meeting-places of a circle of pleasure-seekers and
idlers, and also of some wits from among the men of letters and literati, and
they used to meet in groups of about twenty or thirty. Some read books and fine
writings, some were busy with backgammon and chess, some brought new poems and
talked of literature. Those who used to spend a good deal of money on giving
dinners for the sake of convivial entertainment, found that they could attain
the joys of conviviality merely by spending an asper or two on the price of
coffee. It reached such a point that all kinds of unemployed officers, judges
and professors all seeking preferment, and corner-sitters with nothing to do
proclaimed that there was no place like it for pleasure and relaxation, and
filled it until there was no room to sit or stand. It became so famous that,
besides the holders of high offices, even great men could not refrain from
coming there. The Imams and muezzins and pious hypocrites said: “People have
become addicts of the coffeehouse; nobody comes to the mosques!” The ulema
said: “It is a house of evil deeds; it is better to go to the wine-tavern than
there.” The preachers in particular made great efforts to forbid it. The
muftis, arguing that anything which is heated to the point of carbonization,
that is, becomes charcoal, is unlawful, issued fetvas against it. In the time
of Sultan Murad III, may God pardon him and have mercy on him, there were great
interdictions and prohibitions, but certain persons made approaches to the
chief of police and the captain of the watch about selling coffee from
back-doors in side-alleys, in small and unobtrusive shops, and were allowed to
do this . . . After this time, it became so prevalent, that the ban was abandoned.
The preachers and muftis now said that it does not get completely carbonized,
and to drink it is therefore lawful. Among the ulema, the sheikhs, the viziers
and the great, there was nobody left who did not drink it. It even reached such
a point that the grand viziers built great coffeehouses as investments, and
began to rent them out at one or two gold pieces a day.