XIV. Ottomans and Abbasids in the Kitchen

In her discussion of the genesis of the Ottoman cuisine, Yerasimos admits there is still a raging debate over who started it or what constituted it. However, according to her, ‘the culinary culture which grew from the 15th century onwards and was shaped by an elite group, who lived in and around Istanbul’s Palace… and its extraordinary richness in terms of ingredients and variety of dishes’ cannot possibly be explained by one single influence, be it central Asia, Anatolia, or Byzantium. She believes that ‘the important and definitive influence of the Abbasid (Arab) and the Safavid (Iranian) culinary cultures on Ottoman cuisine should not be forgotten’. She also says that ‘especially in the 15th and 16th centuries, Ottoman cuisine shared ingredients, cooking methods and dish names with the Middle East,’ and that the impact of the Arab Abbasid cuisine cannot possibly be downplayed.