Daily Life In The Ottoman Empire

by Mehrdad Kia

  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 histor
ian 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.

  The report from Ibrahim Peçevi demonstrates that from the very beginning, the introduction of coffee and coffeehouses ignited controversy and stirred heated and bitter public debate. Many among the conservative ulema condemned the new beverage as “an intoxicant fully comparable to wine,” consumption of which the holy Quran banned. The palace and the ulema used coffee as the scapegoat for the decline in public morality and the rise in loose, immoral, and rebellious behavior. The advocates and supporters of the black drink, however, refused to be intimidated. They struck back and used their own interpretation of the Quran and the Islamic law to dismiss the comparison with wine, emphasizing the benefits of drinking coffee and arguing that, as long as it did not interfere with the daily religious obligation, there could not be anything wrong with enjoying several cups of the black beverage.

  In spite of vehement and organized opposition from the conservatives, the popularity and consumption of coffee spread like wildfire. By the closing decades of the 16th century, the consumption of the black stimulant had become common enough that even remote towns in Anatolia possessed coffeehouses. After the Syrian merchant Shems, who had introduced coffee to Istanbul, returned home with a handsome profit of five thousand gold pieces, many more coffeehouses were built in the city and the new black drink emerged as the beverage of chess players and thinkers. Elaborate ceremonies were organized around the brewing and serving of coffee at the imperial palace, where the sultan’s coffee maker received support from 40 assistants. The women of the harem also received special training in preparing coffee for their royal master, while outside the palace, prospective suitors judged the merits of their intended brides in accordance with the taste of the coffee they prepared.

  Coffee was taken at hot temperatures from a special coffee pot called cezve and served with Turkish delight. In some areas of the empire, pistachio grains were added into the coffee. By the last decade of the 16th century, the popularity of the black drink had forced the conservatives to back down and concede defeat, albeit grudgingly. Bostanzade Mehmed Effendi, who served as the chief mufti from 1589 to 1592 and again from 1593 to 1598, finally delivered a fetva granting his approval to the black drink, which had been denounced by an Arab poet as “the negro enemy of sleep and love.” This did not, however, end the controversy and the debate.

  During the reign of Murad IV (1623–1640), the authorities cracked down on coffeehouses, denouncing them as centers of unlawful and seditious activities. Many coffeehouses were closed down, and several coffee drinkers and smokers were executed. For the sultan and his ministers, the prevailing social chaos and political anarchy were partially caused by the rapid increase in the number of coffeehouses—where storytellers, poets, and shadow puppeteers ridiculed the mighty and powerful for their corruption and hypocrisy. When, in September 1633, a devastating fire burned thousands of shops in the capital, the sultan interpreted it as a sign of God’s wrath and demanded the restoration of the moral order. The use of coffee and tobacco was outlawed, and coffeehouses, which had been used as centers of political and social mobilization, were closed. While the small traders were badly hit by the prohibition, the wealthy merchants survived because they possessed a substantial amount of capital and they could make a profit on the black market.

  Despite these repressive measures, the state could not enforce the ban. Moreover, the government gradually recognized that the importation, distribution, and sale of coffee could significantly increase state revenue. Its import was taxed for the first time during the reign of Süleyman II (1687–1698), and “to provide still greater income for the treasury, a further tax was levied on its sale.” The central government also increased its profit from the sale of coffee by “farming out the right of coffee-roasting to the highest bidder.”

  In the second half of the 16th century, European travelers who visited the Ottoman Empire became the first Westerners to discover coffee. The physician Prospero Alpini, who lived in Egypt in 1590, and Pietro della Valle, who visited Istanbul in 1615, wrote of it:

  The Turks also have another beverage, black in colour, which is very refreshing in summer and very warming in winter, without however changing its nature and always remaining the same drink, which is swallowed hot . . . They drink it in long draughts, not during the meal but afterwards, as a sort of delicacy and to converse in comfort in the company of friends. One hardly sees a gathering where it is not drunk. A large fire is kept going for this purpose and little porcelain bowls were kept by it ready-filled with the mixture; when it is hot enough there are men entrusted with the office who do nothing else but carry these little bowls to all the company, as hot as possible, also giving each person a few melon seeds to chew to pass the time. And with the seeds and this beverage, which they call kafoue, they amuse themselves while conversing sometimes for a period of seven or eight hours.

  The European merchants purchased Yemeni coffee in Cairo, where the trade reached its zenith in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, “although even between 1624 and 1630 there were some very wealthy Cairo wholesalers dealing in coffee.” By 1700, coffee had replaced spices as the mainstay of a large and flourishing trade between “the Orient” and Africa on the one hand, and the Mediterranean on the other. European traders tried to dislodge the Muslims from the coffee trade by force, “as they had done earlier with pepper and spice bu
t they failed.” Ottoman control over Aden, which lasted until 1830, allowed Muslim merchants to maintain their control over the lucrative trade, particularly in the Red Sea region, western Arabia, Syria, and Anatolia. This forced the Europeans to establish their own coffee plantations in the Caribbean. The emergence of “plantation colonies” weakened the dominant economic position of Egypt. West Indian coffee first arrived in Marseilles around 1730 and was soon introduced to the bazaars of the eastern Mediterranean. By 1786–1789, 21 percent of the French coffee was sold in the Levant at a price “roughly 25 percent lower than that of Yemeni coffee.” The threat posed by the cheaper West Indian coffee was sufficiently serious that “its importation into Egypt was prohibited.”

  In 18th- and 19th-century Istanbul, splendid coffeehouses were built in the ornate Rococo style—”timber framed with the interiors carved and painted,” often equipped with a stove for heating the coffee and charcoal for the pipes, rows of nargiles, or glass-bottomed water pipes for smoking, and “small decorative fountains to cool the air in summer” so that “the customers could drink their coffee while listening to music, have a shave, smoke their çubuks (long cornel-wood pipes), listen to story-tellers, meet their friends or just relax.” Since “these structures were made of wood, they were particularly vulnerable to the terrible fires that broke out frequently in Istanbul.”

  The popularity of coffee was not confined to the urban centers of the empire. In the distant provinces of the empire, and in the most remote tribal areas of the Middle East, drinking the bitter black liquid brought members of various Arab tribes together. As one foreign traveler observed, the Arab nomadic groups ate very little, particularly when there were no guests, relying primarily on bread and a bowl of camel’s milk for their daily nutrition. This may explain why they remained lean and thin, but also why, when a sickness befell a tribe, it carried off a large proportion of the clan’s members. In sharp contrast, when guests visited the tribe, a sheep was killed in honor of the occasion and a sumptuous meal of mutton, curds, and flaps of bread was prepared and eaten with fingers. Although the flora of the desert regions of Syria and Jordan were scanty in quantity, it was of many varieties and “almost every kind was put to some useful end.” The leaf of uturfan was used to scent butter, while a salad was made of the prickly kursa’aneh. On these special occasions, preparing, serving, and drinking coffee played a central role in demonstrating the hospitality of the host toward his guest.