The Ottoman Empire spanned three continents, representing a wide range of climate zones and flora and fauna, and so the cuisine includes not only the cuisine of the Ottoman palace, but a rich diversity of regional specialties.
Böreks and pastries The iconic Ottoman stuffed pastry
börek may be related to the triangular
sanbusak pastries of Safavid cuisine. The cognate term
senbuse appears in Turkish sources as early as the 13th century, becoming corrupted as
samsa (
Samsa are often associated with
Uzbek cuisine.). The term "börek" does not appear in
Kashgari's dictionary but two recipes for
pirak are recorded in the 14th century
Yinshan Zhengyao, a Chinese cookery manuscript from the
Mongol Yuan era. The description of
Danishmend Gazi's wedding feast in
Danishmendname mentions both samsa and "well-buttered böreks". Ottoman banquets in the 19th century served a mix of
alafranga and alaturca foods. At these dinners,
börek was sometimes replaced by the similar French pastry, or . The pastry
boyoz (etymologically linked to the Spanish
bollos meaning "small loaves") may date to the arrival of Sephardic Jews in 1492. In modern times the pastry is found mainly in the city of Izmir where it represents the cultural heritage and contributions of
Ottoman Jews.
Bread Bread was made with wheat and classified according to the quality and origin of the flour. Istanbul's demand for grain could not be met by local production alone and it received shipments from the Thracian coastlands, western Anatolia,
Dobruja,
Macedonia and
Thessaly. Many types of bread were baked in the palace kitchens—flat white bread (), loaves of good quality whole wheat () and white bread () and
filo ().
Lapa,
keşkek and other Ottoman porridge dishes were less expensive alternatives to white bread.
Desserts Sugar was still prohibitively costly in the 17th century; far more common were honey and syrups like
pekmez, made with grapes. The wheat berry pudding
aşure, in modern times a part of the Islamic holy day
Ashura, has roots in the
harvest rituals of the
Neolithic period, since which time domesticated
wheat is known to have been cultivated at
Karaca Dağ.
Edward Lear's account of a banquet in Ottoman Albania similarly notes the unexpected order of courses, roast meats followed by honeyed pastries, fruits followed by shellfish, savory and salted meats and stews followed by chocolate, and so on, he says, innumerable courses were served in confounding permutations of sweet, sour and salty combinations.
Dolma Dolma were made by stuffing whole fruits and vegetables, or by wrapping leaves around a filling, either minced meat or spiced pilaf. Dernschwam described a stuffed vegetable dish of young gourds and aubergines (which he calls ''
), stuffed with cubed mutton and garlic filling, and served with yogurt. He also describes the dish called sarma'' as stuffed vine leaves cooked with lamb and sour plums.
Drinks Coffeehouses developed first in the Ottoman Empire and spread to Italy, then across Europe. There were coffeehouses,
sharbat shops and
bozahanes around the port of Galata where imported coffee, sugar and other colonial goods arrived to Istanbul in the 18th century. Bozahanes were one of the most popular public hangouts in 15th and 16th century Bursa until overshadowed by the coffeehouses in the 17th centuries. These were lucrative businesses that generated tax revenue and rent. Thomas Smith mentions boza in the 17th century
Epistola de moribus ac institutis Tucarum: "They also have other liquors peculiar to them of which I shall only mention
Bozza made from
millet."
Fish Jean de Thévenot described the fish market of
Galata in the 17th century: The most beautiful fish market in the world is located on the marina, on a street where fish shops occupy both sides, offering large quantities of fish of all varieties...The Greeks run many taverns/cabarets in Galata, where they attract many rascals... Anchovies were a favorite in the coastal city of
Trabzon. One of the many dishes recorded by Evliya Çelebi in his Book of Travels (
Seyahatnâme) is an
anchovy dish from
Trebizond. Cooked in a stoneware pan, the anchovies are arranged in rows and covered with a cinnamon and black pepper scented mixture of leeks, celery, parsley and onions. The vegetable and fish layers alternate to fill up the pan, and olive oil is poured over the top. Çelebi described the dish as "like congealed light, and one who eats it is full of light ... This fish is indeed a table from heaven".
Fruits, nuts and seeds Many different fruits and nuts are recorded in the palace records.
Pomegranates were sourced from villages around the
Marmara Sea.
Üsküdar's fields and meadows had been converted to vineyards by the end of the 16th century. Oranges were not introduced until the 18th century, tangerines even later. Bananas, pineapples and other tropical fruits are not mentioned in any known records from the 19th-century imperial kitchens. Fruits were used to make
sharbat and
compotes. Sugar was too expensive for all but the wealthiest members of Ottoman society, and desserts,
compotes and
sharbat were more likely to be sweetened with dry fruits, molasses or honey. Evliya Çelebi describes shish kebab on skewers and meat slow-cooked in tandoor ovens. He says there were hundreds of stalls in the city of Istanbul selling kebabs and kofta. Ottoman kebabs were slow-cooked in their own juices in earthenware casseroles (
çömlek) or tandoor ovens. The recipe named "as the Turk likes it" from Hungarian noblewoman
Anna Bornemisza's collection uses this technique: Sprinkle salt on the meat then roast it. Wash the rice well and boil it in water until soft. Wash the meat, place it in the pot and cover with beef or chicken juices. If you do not have these juices, boil it in melted butter, but so that it remains in one piece. When you serve it, turn it over onto a "platter", sprinkle with olive oil and a little sugar; in this way it will be tastier. Stuffed roasted lamb with a filling of rice and raisins was served at a feast held in honor of
Mahmud II's sons. It was a choice offering at the garden parties of Istanbul's elites. In 1719 stuffed lamb was served as a feast organized by the newly appointed governor of
Mosul. The 13th century
Danishmendname describes whole stuffed lambs served at a wedding feast:
Çevirme kuzıların dolmış içi. Hunting for food was common. Sultan
Ahmed I hunted rabbits at the palace in Üskudar. This style of hunt in gardens was practiced in Byzantine times at
Blachernae Palace. The 19th-century hunting lodge
Ihlamur Pavilion was designed by the Ottoman-Armenian architect
Nikoğos Balyan in Istanbul for Sultan
Abdulmejid I. Deer, wolves and foxes were all hunted, but rabbits were by far the most common game.
Offal Ottoman court proceedings show that the
boza peddlers claimed, by custom, exclusive rights to sell sauteed liver kebab (cığer).
Rice pilaf Rice was mostly imported from Egypt and used to make
pilaf. In the
Ottoman language pilaf dishes were called
dane, a term borrowed from the
Persian language. Made with mulberries, stir-fried meats, honey, pomegranates and
gourds, rice dishes were rich and varied, at least for the wealthy.
Evliya Çelebi's description of rice dishes draws a distinction for the long-grain Persian rice used in
dane dishes, which he calls
çilav (چلو). He reports attending a feast in
Bitlis where rice dishes were presented
ambrette seeds, partridge,
kofta and eggs. These festive platters were often enriched with almonds, pistachios and currants.
Soups and stews Hans Dernschwam, a 16th-century German traveler, confirms that () was a common dish of this period, prepared with butter and rice for the
janissary corps. According to Dernschwam, most 16th-century Ottoman soups began with a base of
chicken stock and rice, with different vegetables added, although lamb stock was also used. Garlicky
işkembe çorbası (tripe soup) was sold in the early morning hours by
Ottoman Greeks as a hangover cure. Spices were used in health tonics produced by the palace
confectionery that could be consumed as sweets and for health purposes, and could include up to 60 different spices in their preparation.
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, writing in the 18th-century, says Ottomans use "a great deal of rich spice", and that she was unable to eat the food as the intensity of flavors took their toll on her and she "began to grow weary of it and desired our own cook might add a dish or two after our manner". The Turkish epic
Danishmendname records "They put lots of fig and apricot in sour dishes, as well as raisins and dates." The sweet and sour lamb dish
mutancana is rumored to have been one of
Mehmed II's favorite courses. The recipe survives in Shirvani's 15th century manuscript, and some versions appear in Romanian cookbooks, most likely influenced by cultural contact with Hungary.
Mahmudiyye is a sweet and sour chicken and noodle dish of note from the Shirvani manuscript.
Vegetables '' Palace archives from the reign of
Mehmed II confirm purchases of carrots, cucumbers, eggplants, parsley, spinach and chard in the late 15th century.
Leeks are native to the eastern Mediterranean and are mentioned in the
Old Testament Numbers 11:15.
Prasa (پراصه), as they were called, were a staple food for
Salonican Jews who suffered economic hardship during the
Capitulations of the Ottoman Empire. Braising was a typical way of cooking vegetables in the 19th century Ottoman Empire, sometimes with the addition of lamb. By the 1880s printed recipes had added tomato in the preparation of braised dishes. Vegetables were also used in the preparation of stuffed
dolma. Pickled cabbage was known as early as Byzantine times according to the description of a Byzantine feast recorded in
Danishmendname. ==Palace cuisine==