Imperial Ottoman

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Traditional Ottoman Dishes: Kebabs, Pilav, Börek, Baklava, and More

A survey of the classic dishes of the Ottoman kitchen — kebabs, pilavs, börek pastries, baklava and other sweets, coffee, and the sherbets of the palace.

Traditional Ottoman Dishes

The Ottoman kitchen produced one of the great cuisines of the early modern world. From the imperial kitchen at Topkapı to the taverns of the ports, from the iftar tables of Ramadan to the wedding feasts of the countryside, the dishes of the Ottoman tradition are still eaten across the Middle East, the Balkans, and Turkey today. This article surveys a number of the most famous traditional Ottoman dishes, from the pilav of the palace to the kahve served at the end of the meal. It complements the broader discussions of Ottoman society and culture and of Ottoman cuisine.

Pilav

The pilav — the rice dish — was the central staple of the Ottoman kitchen. The most common form was the plain pilav of rice, butter, and stock, served as an accompaniment to the main course. The şehriyeli pilav was a pilav of rice and orzo, the fıstıklı pilav a pilav of rice and pistachio, the sütlü pilav a sweet pilav of rice, milk, and sugar served as a dessert, and the zerdeli pilav a pilav of rice, currants, and pine nuts served with the kebab. The perde pilavı was a baked pilav of rice, chicken, almonds, and currants served in a sealed pastry shell. The palace used the long-grained rice of the Meriç river, of Edirne, or of the Nile delta.

Kebab

The kebab was the principal meat dish. The most common forms were the şiş kebab (skewered, grilled lamb), the döner kebab (vertically roasted, shaved meat), the Adana kebab (long, hand-minced, spiced kebab), the Urfa kebab (the milder version), the Beyti kebab (hand-minced, spiced, grilled and wrapped in flatbread), the iskender kebab (thinly sliced grilled lamb on flatbread with tomato sauce and yogurt), the tandır kebabı (clay-oven-roasted lamb), and the testi kebabı (sealed-clay-pot kebab of Cappadocia). The most common meat was lamb or mutton, and the kebab was generally served with a pilav, a salad, a haydari (yogurt with cucumber and mint), a acılı ezme (spicy pepper paste), and a flatbread.

Börek

The börek was the principal pastry. It was made of thin sheets of filo pastry filled with cheese, minced meat, spinach, or potatoes, and it was baked on a sac (hot plate) or in a tin oven. The most common forms were the su böreği (boiled and baked, with a cheese filling), the sigara böreği (small, cigar-shaped, of feta and parsley), the kol böreği (rolled, with cheese), the gül böreği (rose-shaped, with cheese), the peynirli börek (cheese börek of the villages), and the kıymalı börek (minced-meat börek). The palace produced a particularly elaborate börek for the sünnet düğünü, the circumcision feast, in which dozens of varieties were prepared and stacked in the form of an artificial mountain.

Dolma and sarma

The dolma — the stuffed dish — was another major category. The most common forms were the dolma (stuffed bell pepper, tomato, zucchini, eggplant, or onion, filled with a pilav of rice, minced meat, onion, and pine nuts), the sarma (stuffed vine leaf, cabbage leaf, or chard leaf), the yaprak sarması (stuffed vine leaf), the etli yaprak sarması (stuffed vine leaf with minced meat), the karışık dolma (mixed stuffed dish served cold with a yogurt sauce), the çiğ köfte (raw-meat bulgur dish of the southeastern provinces, generally vegetarian in the modern form), and the içli köfte (bulgur-and-mince shell stuffed with a minced-meat filling).

Köfte, çorba, and the everyday kitchen

The köfte — the meatball — was another major form. The most common varieties were the köfte itself (small, hand-shaped meatball of minced meat, onion, and spices), the çiğ köfte (raw-meat bulgur dish), the içli köfte, the sulu köfte (meatball in sauce), the ızgara köfte (grilled meatball), and the kadınbudu köfte (the woman’s-thigh meatball, made with rice and parsley). The çorba was the daily starter of the meal, and the most common varieties were the mercimek çorbası (lentil soup), the yayla çorbası (yogurt soup), the işkembe çorbası (tripe soup), and the tarhana çorbası (fermented-yogurt-and-tomato soup). The pilav of the everyday kitchen was the simple tereyağlı pilav of rice and butter, and the ekmek — the flatbread of the neighborhood oven — was the daily staple.

Salads and meze

The salad was an important part of the meal, and the meze — the small plates of cold food — was a major feature of the meyhane, the tavern. The most common salads were the çoban salatası (shepherd’s salad of tomato, cucumber, onion, and parsley), the patlıcan salatası (eggplant salad), the acılı ezme (spicy pepper paste), the haydari (yogurt-and-cucumber dip), the tarator (yogurt-and-walnut dip), the humus (chickpea-and-tahini dip), and the babagannuç (charred-eggplant dip). The principal meze of the tavern were the beyaz peynir (white cheese), the kaşar peyniri (yellow cheese), the zeytin (olive), and a great deal of salad and dip of the cold kitchen.

Sweets

The sweet tradition is one of the most distinctive in the world. The most famous Ottoman sweet is the baklava, the layered pastry of filo, nuts, and syrup. The palace produced the burma baklava rolled into a tube, the havuç dilimi cut into a long lozenge, and the fıstıklı baklava of Gaziantep made with pistachio. The künefe is a cheese pastry soaked in syrup, an Ottoman sweet from the southern provinces. The milk desserts of the palace include the sütlaç (rice pudding), the kazandibi (caramelized rice pudding), the tavuk göğsü (chicken-breast pudding), the muhallebi (milk pudding), the keşkül (almond pudding), and the güllaç (rose-water and starch dessert of Ramadan). The helvalar — the dense, sweet puddings of flour, butter, and sugar — include the un helvası, the irmik helvası, and the helva-i tahin of sesame paste. The lokum (Turkish delight) and the akide şekeri (rock candy) round out the sweet tradition. The recipes for these and other palace dishes are preserved in the Ottoman cuisine tradition and its surviving cookbooks.

Beverages

The principal beverages of the Ottoman kitchen were su (water), şerbet (sweet fruit, flower, or spice drink), ayran (salted yogurt drink), boza (fermented millet drink, served in winter), salep (hot drink of orchid flour, milk, sugar, and cinnamon), kahve (coffee, central to Ottoman social life), çay (black tea, common only in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries), şarap (wine), and raki (anise-flavored grape spirit). The article on Ottoman coffee culture treats the arrival, the spread, and the social role of coffee in more detail.

The legacy

The dishes of the Ottoman kitchen are the most widely recognized part of the empire’s cultural inheritance. The kebab, the pilav, the börek, the dolma, the baklava, the lokum, the coffee, and the raki of the Ottomans are still eaten, drunk, and produced in Turkey, in the Balkans, in the Middle East, and across the world. The recipes of the imperial kitchen, preserved in the archives of Topkapı and in the cookbooks of the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries, remain an important part of the heritage of the successor states of the empire. The broader context of the cuisine is described in the article on Ottoman cuisine, and the ritual of the ceremonial table — including the wedding and the circumcision feast — is described in the article on the Ottoman family and the imperial harem.