My Ottoman Cuisine Bibliography

Urtatim al-Qurtubiyya bint ‘abd al-Karim al-hakam al-Fassi

website: Dar Anahita - http://home.earthlini.net/~lilinah
e-mail: lilinah@earthlink.net
summer 2016

Beyond Shirvani and Yerasimos, the other books and articles are in alphabetical order by
author/editor. The first two books i use for recipes, along with those i've translated from
Hans Dernschwam (see below). I also consult Mary Isin for recipes for and techniques of
sweets.

Muhammed bin Mahmûd Şirvanî, original author

Mustafa Argunşah and Müjgan Çakır, authors & translators
15. Yüzyıl Osmanlı Mutfağı [15th Century Ottoman Cuisine]
Istanbul: Gökkubbe, 2005
ISBN-10: 975-6223-84-7
In Modern Turkish. A translation of and comments on Şirvanî’s translation into Eski
Osmanlica of the Arabic- language cookbook, Kitab al-Tabikh, written in 1226 by
Muhammed ibn al-Hasan ibn Muhammed al-Karim al-Katab al-Baghdadi, along with the over
eighty 15th century recipes he added. Includes originals in Eski Osmanlica transliterated
into the modern Turkish adaptation of the Roman alphabet, and a glossary of some food
terms.

Stéphane Yerasimos
À la table du Grand Turc (At the Sultanʹs Table)
Arles, France: Sindbad (Série lʹOrient gourmand)/ Editions Actes Sud, 2001.
ISBN-10: 2-7427-3443-0
In French. I translated the entire book into English. It is the source of the most detailed
information on 15th and 16th century Ottoman cuisine, drawn from palace account books,
palace menus for ordinary meals, royal circumcision festival feast lists, foreign visitorsʹ
diaries, and other sources. Includes almost 2 dozen of Şirvani’s recipes. Started me on my
quest to find more recipes.

Stefanos Yerasimos (same as Stéphane, above)

Sultan Sofralari. 15. ve 16. Yüzyilda Osmanli Saray Mutfaǧi (The Sultanʹs Sofra: 15th
and 16th Century Ottoman Palace Cuisine)
Istanbul: YKY, 2002
ISBN: 975-08-0386-8.
In Modern Turkish. A slightly expanded edition of the French book above. Has a little more
text and many footnotes absent from the French edition.

Semahat Arsel, editor

Timeless Tastes: Turkish Culinary Culture
Istanbul: Divan, 1996.
ISBN-10: 975-9495-71-6
4 essays in 76 pages on Turkish food history and culture by scholars Bozkurt Güvenç,
Nezihe Araz, Prof. Dr. Günay Kut, and Tuğrul Şavkay. Includes photos of pots, dishes, and
serving utensils from 5000 BCE-300 CE and the 20th century and illustrations from
15th-20th centuries. Followed by 200 pages of modern recipes. Of note are:
On Drinking and Eating in the Daily Life During the Rise and Decline of the Ottoman Empire
by Dr. Tuğrul Şavkay, pp. 29-37
The Cultural and Historic Context of Turkish Cuisine by Dr. Tuğrul Şavkay, pp. 72-89

Arif Belgin, and Özge Samancı, eds.

Turkish Cuisine
Ankara: Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism. 2008.
A hefty book with 4 "chaptersʺ, each consisting of from 2 to 4 scholarly essays, and a 5th
chapter of recipes, the vast majority from 19th century cookbooks.

Alan Davidson, editor and contributor.

The Penguin Companion to Food (paperback edition of The Oxford Companion to
Food) Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England: Penguin Books, 1999, 2002.
ISBN-10: 0-14-200163-5
Several of the articles are useful concerning ingredients, dishes, and food history, such as
Rice and Sugar.

Nihal Kadioğlu Çevik, editor

Imperial Taste: 700 Years of Culinary Culture
Ankara: Ministry of Culture [Kültür Bakanlığı], Republic of Turkey, 2000.
Six essays on Ottoman cuisine by Tuğrul Şavkay, Günay Kut, Sabahattin Türkoğlu, Ayşe
Erdoğdu, Turgut Kut. A translation of the Bursa Edict of Standards from 1502, which lists of
fresh produce, meats, prepared dishes, such as breads and börek, and their official prices.
Followed by 80 pages of Ottoman recipes from the 19th century.

Hans Dernschwam (also called Jan and Johannes)

Hans Dernschwams Bericht über Ernährungsgewohnheiten in der Türkey, Ungarn usw. (16.
Jh.) excerpted from: Hans Dernschwamʹs Tagebuch einer Reise nach Konstantinopel
und Kleinasien (1553/55). Nach der Urschrift im Fugger-Archiv, herausgegeben und
erläutert von Franz Babinger. München/ Leipzig 1923, 123-131 (Studien zur Fugger-
Geschichte 7).
[Hans Dernschwamʹs report on 16th century food, foodways and cookery in Turkey,
Hungary, etc. (16th c.) excerpted from: Hans Dernschwamʹs diary of a journey to
Constantinople and Asia Minor (1553/55). After the copy in the Fugger archives, edited and
annotated by Franz Babinger. Munich / Leipzig 1923, pp.123-131 (Studies in History of the
Fuggers 7)]
Food sections: http://www.uni-giessen.de/gloning/tx/dernfood.htm [as of June 2016]
I translated a number of the recipes he gives. He wrote in phonetic 16th c. Bohemian
German, so it was a little tricky.

Suraiya Faroqhi and Christoph K. Neumann, editors and contributors

The Illuminated Table, the Prosperous House: Food and Shelter in Ottoman
Material Culture. Band 73, Turkische Welten [4.] Beiruter Texte und Studien.
Wurzburg, Germany: Ergon-Verlag, 2003.
ISBN-13: 978-3-89913-323-3
A collection of scholarly essays, many on Ottoman cuisine, covering the 16th through 18th
centuries. Includes: Hedda Reindl-Kiel, The Chickens of Paradise: Official Meals in the mid-
Seventeenth Century Ottoman Palace, pp. 59-88

Mary İşin
Sherbet & Spice: The Complete Story of Turkish Confectionery
London: I. B. Tauris & Co., 2012
Comprehensive history of Turkish sweets, including descriptions of techniques and some
recipes from the 15th to 20th centuries.

Günay Kut
On the Additions by Shirwani (15th Century?) to his Translation of a Cookery-book (13th
Century). Pp. 176-180.
in Birinci Milletlerarasi Yemek Kongresi [First International Food Congress], Turkey,
25-30 September 1986. Ministry of Culture and Tourism Publications [Kültür ve Turizm
Bakanlığı Yayınları] Turkey.
ISBN-10: 975-17-0092-8
The first published list of recipes from Şirvanî’s manuscript. The count was a bit off, but
several recipes have no title

Nawal Nasrallah, introduction, English translation, notes and Glossary

Annals of the Caliphsʹ Kitchens: Ibn Sayyâr al-Warrâqʹs Tenth-century Baghdadi
Cookbook
Islamic History and Civilization Series, 70
Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2007
ISBN-13: 978-90-04-15867-2
Not about Ottoman cuisine, but the Glossaries on food ingredients have been helpful.

Nicholas de Nicolay
The Nauigations, peregrinations and voyages, Made into Turkie...,
Translated out of the French by T. Washington the younger. Imprinted at London by Thomas
Dawson, 1585 facsimile edition: Theatrum Orbis Terrarum Ltd., Amsterdam, & Da Capo
Press, NYC: 1968.

Gerry Oberling and Grace Martin Smith

The Food Culture of the Ottoman Palace
The Society of Friends of Topkapı Palace Museum
Istanbul: Republic of Turkey, Ministry of Culture, 2001
ISBN-10: 975-7510-08-4
Good general information, no recipes. Lots of lovely large historical illustrations

Charles Perry
Grain Dishes of the Early Turks. pp. 617-638
in Paul D. Buell and Eugene N. Anderson
A Soup for the Qan: Introduction, Translation, Commentary and Chinese Text.
London and New York: Kegan Paul International, 2000.
ISBN-10: 0-7103-0583-4

Amy Singer, editor and contributor

Starting with Food: Culinary Approaches to Ottoman History
Markus Wiener Publishing Inc., 2011
ISBN-13: 978-1558765146
Collection of scholarly essays by various authors, some more interesting than others,
covering many centuries of Ottoman cuisine.

Marianna Yerasimos; Sally Bradbrook, translator

500 Years of Ottoman Cuisine
Istanbul: Boyut Publishing, 2005
ISBN-10: 975-23-0161-4
Has a wealth of information on Ottoman food and culinary sources. Has 99 recipes drawn
from 15th-19th centuries, although no originals, only her adaptations, some of which she
notes combine aspects of variations from different centuries. Many illustrations, from the
15th through 19th centuries.