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III. Kitchen of the Imperial Palace
The
importance of culinary art to the Ottoman Sultans is evident to every visitor
to Topkapi Palace. The huge kitchens were housed in several buildings under
ten domes. By the 17th century some thirteen hundred kitchen staff were
housed in the Palace. Hundreds of cooks, specializing in different categories,
such as soups, pilafs, kebabs, vegetables, fish, breads, pastries, candy
and helva, syrups and jams, and beverages, fed as many as ten thousand
people a day, and, in addition, sent trays of food to others in the city
as a royal favor. The importance of food has also been evident in the structure
of the Ottoman military elite, known as the Janissaries. The commanders
of the main divisions were known as the Soupmen, other high ranking officers
included the Chief Cook, the Scullion, the Baker, and the Pancake Maker,
though their duties had little to do with food. The huge cauldron used
to make pilaf had a special symbolic significance for the Janissaries,
and was the focal point of each division. The kitchen was at the same time
the center of politics, for whenever the Janissaries demanded a change
in the Sultan's Cabinet, or the head of a grand vizier, they would overturn
their pilaf cauldron. "Overturning the cauldron," is an expression still
used today to indicate a rebellion in the ranks. It was in this environment
that hundreds of the Sultans' chefs, who dedicated their lives to their
profession, developed and perfected the dishes of the Turkish cuisine,
which was then adopted in from the Balkans to southern Russia, and reaching
as fir as North Africa. Istanbul was then the capital of the world and
had all the prestige, so its ways were imitated. At the same time, it was
supported by an enormous organization and infrastructure which enabled
all the treasures of the world to flow into it. The provinces of the vast
Empire were integrated by a system of trade routes with caravanserais for
refreshing the weary merchants and security forces. The Spice Road, the
most important factor ii-i culinary history, was under the full control
of the Sultan. Only the best ingredients were allowed to be traded under
the strict standards established by the courts.
Guilds
played an important role in the development and sustenance of the cuisine.
These included hunters, fishermen, cooks, kebab cooks, bakers, butchers,
cheese makers and yogurt merchants, pastry chefs, pickle makers, and sausage
merchants. All of the principal trades were believed to be sacred and each
guild traced its patronage to the saints. The guilds set price and quality
controls. They displayed their products and talents in spectacular parades
through Istanbul streets on special occasions, such as the circumcision
festivities for the Crown Prince or religious holidays.
Following the example of the Palace,
all of the grand Ottoman houses boasted elaborate kitchens and competed
in preparing feasts for each other as well as for the general public. In
fact, in each neighborhood, at least one household would open its doors
to anyone who happened to stop by for dinner during the holy month of Ramadan,
or during other festive occasions. This is how the traditional cuisine
evolved and spread, even to the most modest corners of the country.
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