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Ottoman cookbooks
[Downlaod our program to your mp3 player:
http://TurkRadio.podOmatic.com ] [See more on this subject by visiting the pages selected for you by Anita Donohoe: http://turkradio.us/k/osmanli_yemek/ ] x0x Ottoman cookbooks By VEDAT BASARAN Ottoman cookbooks with titles like `A Treatise on Food', `The Cooks' Refuge' and `The Woman of the House' offer recipes both healthful and tasty. Years ago when I embarked on my studies of Turkish cookery, Turkish cookbooks were the first sources I consulted. There were not many of them. The books of Ekrem Muhittin Yegen and of our famous chef, Necip Erturk Usta, were the ones most people used. These books, which contained a great number of recipes, were unfortunately not helpful in my research into Ottoman cuisine. To find what I was looking for, I made my way to the antiquarian booksellers. Like a seeker of treasure, I achieved my aim after combing through these shops one by one. I found many books written in the Ottoman script. There was a problem of course: I didn't know Ottoman. What's more, these books had no illustrations. Trusting in the dealers' claims, I bought whatever they gave me. So enthusiastic was I that within a short time I began slowly to decipher the books. And that was when I found myself in a time tunnel. A REAL FIND: THE `TREATISE ON FOOD' When we translate these books into modern Turkish, we can see how different they are from today's cookbooks in terms both of style and of cooking techniques. Undoubtedly one of the most important reasons for this is the socio-economic transformation experienced between Ottoman times and our day. Unfortunately, the number of cookbooks written in past centuries is not many. But those to hand, whether printed or in manuscript, offer a welter of information. The book believed to be the first manuscript work about cookery is the `Agdiye Risalesi' or `Agdiye Treatise'. Although some of the recipes in this 18th century work have been included in various cookbooks, nothing is known about the origin of the book. The Agdiye Risalesi was transcribed by Nejat Sefercioglu and printed under the title `Yemek Risalesi' (A Treatise on Food). This seven-chapter cookbook, which is housed in the Library of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, is a treasure in the full sense of the word with a wealth of contents ranging from numerous varieties of soup and a thousand and one examples of pastry to stews, kebabs, pickles, salads and sweets. A lamb steak recipe called `Tesrifati Naim Efendi's Kulbasti' in particular is such as to be a favorite even with today's modern world cuisines. A COOKBOOK BY A DOCTOR The first printed book of Ottoman cuisine is the Melce'ut Tabbah'in (The Cooks' Refuge). Compiled by one of the teachers at the School of Forensic Medicine, this book was first published in 1844, in other words, five years following the declaration of the `Tanzimat' or Reforms, and is the first book of recipes printed as a result of social development initiatives. It is also significant that the book was written by a medical man. When people are sick, they turn to doctors and medications for remedies. But correct and healthful eating can also ensure a healthy life. Methods of preparing broth and non-greasy foods for the sick are given in this book. `The Cooks' Refuge', prepared for publication by Turebi Efendi, was published in the United Kingdom in 1864 under the title `Turkish Cookery' without citing the source. With contributions by the well-known cookbook scholar Turgut Kut together with Cuneyt Kut, it was translated into Turkish and published in Turkey in 1997. The second printed cookbook was written by a woman, Ayse Fahriye. Published in 1881, this book, `The Woman of the House,' offers a wealth of information about Turkish cuisine. Containing recipes for the more traditional Turkish dishes, it also includes 887 informative entries on subjects ranging from table settings and kitchen utensils to canning and drying fruits and vegetables to smoking fish and roasting meat on a spit. `The Woman of the House' is known to have been the source of most of the printed cookbooks that followed it. We would now like to leave you with the various tastes that we have selected from the pages of these priceless Ottoman cookbooks. Recipes Stuffed Mackerel Ingredients: 1 mackerel 2 tbsp. walnut meats 1 tbsp. currants 1 onion, finely diced 1 tbsp. pine nuts 1 tsp. cinnamon 1 tsp. black pepper 1/2 tsp. allspice 1/4 bunch dill, finely chopped 1 cup fine bread crumbs 1 cup flour 2 eggs 1 cup olive oil Preparation: To clean the mackerel and remove the bones easily, massage the fish gently with the fingers from the neck to the tail. Remove the insides and set aside the flesh. Clean out the bones and leave the fish skin to one side. Toss the pine nuts into hot oil in a skillet. When they begin to color, add the diced onions and saute for 3 or 4 minutes. Then add, in turn, the fish, the currants, salt, cinnamon, the walnut meats, allspice, black pepper and the dill. Mix well and remove from the fire. When cool, stuff the fish skin with these ingredients. Roll the fish in flour, dip in egg and then in the bread crumbs, and fry on both sides until golden brown. Cool and serve. Eggs with Clotted Cream Ingredients: 100 g clotted cream (Turkish `kaymak') 3 eggs salt cinnamon, stick or powdered Preparation: Melt half the clotted cream in a skillet and break the eggs over it. Add salt and cook the eggs over medium heat. Then add the remaining cream in dollops over the whites of the eggs and cover the pan. When the cream has melted, add cinnamon. Serve immediately. Pickled Bluefish Ingredients: 300- 400 g of bluefish 1 tbsp. saffron 200 ml vinegar 50 g cinnamon 4 cloves 4 cardamom pods myrtle or bay leaves 2-3 cloves of garlic, chopped 2 tbsp. pine nuts olive oil Preparation: First clean the bluefish. Cut into 50 cm long filets and remove the bones. Score with a knife and rub well with salt. Fry the fish in olive oil until golden brown, then drain. Moisten 1 tbsp saffron with a little water and leave for 10 hours, then squeeze out the water through a piece of gauze. Reserve this water and bring the saffron to a boil with 200 ml of vinegar. Pound the 4 cloves and 4 cardamom pods well and mix with the cinnamon, myrtle and bay leaves. Arrange a layer of the leaves at the bottom of a jar. Arrange a layer of fish filets on top, then a layer of the pounded spices, and add the 2-3 cloves of chopped garlic. Finally, sprinkle the 2 tbsp. of pine nuts on top, add the reserved water and saffron-flavored vinegar to cover, and close with a lid. The pickled bluefish will be ready to eat in 2-3 days. (Do not keep longer than one month.) Turkish sponge dessert Ingredients: 10 egg whites 1/2 cup cornstarch 1/4 cup flour For the syrup: 1 kg sugar 500 g water 500 g milk juice of half a lemon Preparation: Beat the egg whites in a bowl with the cornstarch until white and foamy. Gradually mix in the flour. Brown the resulting mixture in hot oil. Drain and place in the syrup. Let stand for 10 minutes, then serve. ---------------------------------------------------- |
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