[Sca-cooks] Sixteenth Century Turkish

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

I just got back home late Tues. night from an... 
uh... adventure. I was only reading urgent email 
while on the road.

Serena da Riva wrote:
>I have been asked to cook a feast that is far out of my comfort zone
>and range of knowledge. I am hoping that the good gentles here can
>assist me in beginning my quest. Are there any period culinary sources
>that are specifically 16th century Turkish?

ONE
I translated all of Stephane Yerasimoss book, A 
la table du Grand Turc, into English. He included 
42 recipes. 24 are from Mehmet Shirvanis mid15th 
c cookbook. 16 from Shirvanis translation of 
alBaghdadi, and they are NOT identical to those 
in the original. And 3 which were cooked in the 
16th c but for which no period recipe survives, 
so Yerasimos used
one from 1764, one from 1844, and one that is 
traditional...i found a version of the last one 
supposedly from an early 17th c Moghul cookbook 
(the recipe is Persian in origin).

Yerasimos died in 2005 and I have been trying 
without luck to get permission from the French 
publisher of Yerasimos to publish my translation, 
but they have no answered any of my queries. So i 
cannot put it on the web as that would violate 
copyright.

TWO
I have the info from a 15th/16th c. Ottoman feast i cooked
http://home.earthlink.net/~al-tabbakhah/2007_Feasts/Fall%20Investiture%20Feast/Intro_Menu.html

Most recipes from 15th and 16th c. sources, with 
a few reconstructed from descriptions, such as 
the bulghur

FIRST COURSE
Choice of SOUP:
* Buyresiyye (kadin tuzlugu shorbasi) - Meatball Soup with Barberries
* Terbiyeli Tavuk Chorbasi - Chicken Soup with 
Small Noodles and Egg-Lemon Sauce
Mantž - Seasoned ground lamb in thin dough 
wrappers, steamed and served with 
garlic-sumac-yogurt sauce

SECOND COURSE
Flat Bread (purchased, NOT pita)
Fresh Pickled Cucumbers
Rose Petal Jam (purchased)
Merserem - Lamb and Chard in Herbed Yogurt
Mahmudiyye - Chicken and Apricots with Noodles and Almonds
Kachkul-i kabak - Spiced Stewed Gourds
Four Colors of Rice: White, Yellow, Red, and Green
Bulghur with Chestnuts, cinnamon, and ginger
Beverage Syrups - Morello Cherry and Mulberry

DESSERT COURSE
Sheker Burek - Almond-paste-topped yeasted "cookies"
Senbuse Mukallele - Fried almond-paste-filled pastries
Muhallebi - Delicate Rose-Scented Rice Flour and Milk Pudding
Zerde = "Yellow" - Rice Pudding with Saffron and Nuts
Turkish Coffee (Peet's, of course), with sugar and Splenda on the side

THREE
Hans Dernschwam describes Ottoman food, and gives 
a few with details, however, he begins his 
descriptions by saying the the Turks eat poor 
miserable food, and suggests during his 
descriptions that he was not fond of much of it. 
So while i am translating him, i wouldnt exactly 
put my complete faith in his versions.

FOUR
And i have a few from other sources.

Feel free to contact me off list for more info.
-- 
Urtatim [that's err-tah-TEEM]
the persona formerly known as Anahita