The Royal Touch

By Janice Tober

When you land at Istanbul airport, you’re surrounded by the modern face of the city: glass, steel and shops laden with brand-name wares. But as you make your way into the city, there’s a good chance you’ll pass ancient stone fortifications, intact Ottoman-era palaces and mosques. You might see the Bosphorus Strait, the body of water that was part of the famed Silk Road. It’s easy to imagine the grand empire that existed here for close to a millennium.

A big part of Istanbul’s history is rooted in its Ottoman heritage, a multicultural, multifaith empire that existed from 1299 to 1922. Many of the city’s top tourist attractions, like Topkapı Palace, showcase what it was like to live large as a sultan. Lately, there’s a growing hunger locally to delve into the Ottoman culture through recipes abandoned decades ago.

THE RICH ARCHITECTURE INSIDE TOPKAPI PALACE

“French cuisine became a dominating influence in the 19th century, leading to local cuisines being deemed unfashionable and unsophisticated,” says Priscilla Mary Işın, a Turkish food historian and author of Bountiful Empire: A History of Ottoman Cuisine. “The same happened in Istanbul. In the 1970s, upmarket restaurants never served Turkish dishes. You couldn’t even get Turkish coffee in a grand hotel. Now traditional food is enjoying a comeback.”

CUTLERY DESIGN, INSPIRED BY ANCIENT CULTURES

© KEMPINSKI HOTELS

Chefs leading the way in following this food trail aren’t foraging for food, but for recipes. While traditional Ottoman dishes are still made by home cooks, many of the more complex recipes prepared at palaces were lost.

Executive chef Sezai Erdoğan of the Çırağan Palace Kempinski Istanbul, inspired by the hotel’s former life as an Ottoman palace, wanted to create an authentic menu for the property’s Tuğra Restaurant suitable for royalty and hotel guests. Like other local chefs, however, Erdoğan found it difficult to find original Ottoman recipes. He and his team scoured palace vaults for dishes created for sultans, their families and privileged court visitors. “We worked with prominent food historians and experts, researching archives of royal libraries, to create a palace-worthy restaurant of Ottoman cuisine,” Erdoğan explains.

ÇIRAĞAN PALACE KEMPINSKI ISTANBUL

KEMPINSKI HOTELS

WHAT TEMPTED PALACE PALATES?

Turkey’s wealth and power during the Ottoman period attracted people from all over the region and beyond. Merchants from Persia and the Middle East, Asia, Africa, the Mediterranean and the Balkans brought in exotic goods and spices to Istanbul’s markets and many lived in this central trading hub straddling Europe and Asia.

FRAGRANT SPICES IN AN ISTANBUL MARKET

The eclectic mix of cultures influenced local cuisine. “As a multicultural empire, the cuisine reflected this diversity,” says Işın. “For instance, desserts soaked in syrup were popular in medieval Middle Eastern cuisine and were taken up by the Ottomans, who invented many new ones — baklava being the best known.”

As these new, mysterious ingredients made their way into the royal palaces, recipes were designed to impress and show off the sultan’s wealth. According to historians, it took more than 1,000 kitchen staff and meals were eaten off solid gold plates. “The Ottomans were extremely inventive in their cookery and took their food very seriously,” Işın adds. “An elaborate version of wheat porridge called aşure made at the Ottoman palace for Muharrem in 1870 included raisins, dates, pine nuts, hazelnuts, almonds, black-eyed beans, broad beans, haricot beans, chickpeas, musk and rose water.”

THE BANQUET SERVICE TEAM’S ATTIRE HAS BEEN TAILORMADE FOR THIS EXPERIENCE

KEMPINSKI HOTELS

The sultan and his extensive entourage generally preferred foods richer and sweeter than what we eat today. Lamb and game birds, like quail and pheasant, were the chicken of the day — common and plentiful. They were seasoned with spices, such as clove, cinnamon and anise. Imperial tastes also meant meat dishes were adorned with fruit like pomegranates and apricots. Since the sultan controlled the spice routes throughout the region, the royal Ottoman kitchens were full of flavourful spices and tasty goods to turn an ordinary piece of lamb into a complex dish spiced with cinnamon, cardamom and fennel, accompanied by nuggets of juicy plums.

HANDMADE ITALIAN CARAFE AND GOBLET WITH PLANT MOTIFS

© KEMPINSKI HOTELS

After the decadent Tulip Period (1718-1730), recipes evolved to feature more savoury ingredients, incorporating yogurt and tomato-based dishes into the gastronomic mix.

BE A SULTAN FOR A DAY (OR AT LEAST A DINNER)

The Çırağan Palace Kempinski Istanbul hotel, found in Istanbul’s Beşiktaş district on the banks of the Bosphorus, was built in 1871 by Sultan Abdülaziz. Tuğra is the hotel’s signature dining venue and takes its name from the word ‘tuğra,’ which, loosely translated, means ‘sultan’s signature.’

Located on the first floor of the former palace, Tuğra features lovely views over the Bosphorus to the city’s Asian side. On the menu, you’ll find dishes that include herbs, nuts, honey, spices, lamb, rice and saffron which, according to chef Erdoğan, are the main ingredients of Ottoman cuisine. Written descriptions include the origins of each menu item and which sultan favoured it.

ZERDE FLAVOURED WITH SAFFRON

© KEMPINSKI HOTELS

One typical Ottoman dish is the braised beef dolma over rice with roasted veggies, shallots and homemade pickles, a robust recipe that dates back 500 years as a favourite of the Janissaries, the elite guard of the sultan’s household. Another is the phyllo-wrapped duck with pistachios and almonds, finished with lavender honey jus and caramelized fruits, first served in 1539 at Sultan Süleyman’s circumcision celebration for his sons.

Tuğra’s signature dish is the Testi casserole (also chef Erdoğan’s favourite). Cooked and served in a clay pot (historians believe that the world’s first clay pot was made in Anatolia around 7,000 BC), it is cracked open by your server. Out comes a delectable mixture of tender lamb, tomato, potato, shallot, earthy wild mushrooms and peppers. After these, there is plenty more to fill your plate.

After testing your stomach’s limits in Istanbul, whether for one day or 10, take a moment to breathe in deeply before you depart it. You may get a faint whiff of spice before leaving one of the world’s last great empires.