The article of Asst. Prof. Dr. Murat Doğan, deputy dean of Istanbul Gelisim University (IGU), Faculty of Fine Arts (FAF) and lecturer of the Department of Gastronomy and Culinary Arts, was published in the Journal of Food Taste. The article was featured in the April issue of the magazine with the title "Old Ramadans and Our Culinary Culture".
My dear readers, you may think that I exaggerate and nostalgia when I say old Ramadans. Of course, today's Ramadan is also very beautiful and full. However, sometimes we forget so many beautiful things that should be inherited from the past to the present. Our culinary culture and related traditions are at the forefront of these.
“We have a very beautiful tradition that comes to mind first and which we have perhaps forgotten in the last fifty years. Tooth rent…”
Maybe to give iftar to relatives and neighbors, which continues to some extent today. However the old ones did it as a form of worship and entered the race to host guests. In fact, they kept their doors open during the iftar hours throughout the month of Ramadan; familiar, unfamiliar, passer-by and everyone who stayed on the road has had their share of the treats of the iftar feast. After the banquet, all guests were given a gift, or dental rent, as a courtesy. This tradition was practiced throughout the Ottoman period, but has been forgotten today. In addition, those who were in good condition would send Ramadan supplies to their relatives and neighbors who were in trouble. The tradition of distributing Ramadan supplies to the employees of today's workplaces can be considered as an extension of that old tradition.
“When we come to our culinary culture, an important part of our historical culinary culture, which has developed specifically for the month of Ramadan, is related to the preparations made for the month of Ramadan.”
Since all kinds of fruits and vegetables are not available all year, as today, the materials to be used in Ramadan were prepared in the seasons when they were cheap and plentiful. Large quantities of pre-prepared or prepared foods, known as ramazaniyelik, were of particular importance during the winter months when it coincided with the month of Ramadan. Pastrami, sausage, roasted meat and other meat products, dried beans, eggplant and red pepper, various pickles, cheese and oils, all soup ingredients, especially tarhana, can be counted among these. In addition to all these, jams bought for this month, sour cherry, apricot, plum, etc. Fruits, bulgur, noodles, rice, pasta, tomato and pepper pastes, dried yufka and bread varieties were the foods that showed the richness of our cuisine. The purchase or preparation of such food in quantities sufficient for at least a month was an important issue. At other times, materials such as flour, oil, sugar, which were taken weekly or daily, were taken in large sacks or tins to be sufficient throughout Ramadan. In some regions, this was also called the Ramadan supply. Anyone who could afford it would buy beautiful cups, water glasses, expensive spoons, pressure spoons with special handles, and give them to children as dental rent. In the bazaars and markets, grocers used to stack rose-colored bundles and hang bacon and sausages on the ropes. In confectioners, various jams were arranged on small plates, and candies and sherbet materials were decorated on them.
“Finally, let's finish with a section from the old Ramadan table.”
In the iftar banquets given in the old Ramadan evenings, great importance was attached to the variety and care of the dishes, as well as the table setting. Meals came on trays and were planned down to the last detail. Various iftar dishes such as jam, cheese, caviar, olives, sausage and pastrami were placed on small plates and placed in the middle of the tray. Various seasonal fruits and salads were lined up on the sides of the tray on special plates. Lemons were cut in half on small plates, gauze was put on the pieces of lemon so that the seeds would not fall into the food, and they were tied with colored silk threads or ribbons. Ramadan pita and breads, buns and bagels were lined up next to mother-of-pearl bowls and plates and coral-handled spoons towards the edge of the table. The table setting was completed with zamzam water brought from Mecca and dates from Medina. After soup, meat and vegetable dishes were eaten, a tray of rice was served and finally fruit compote in cut glass bowls and small ivory-handled spoons on the sides were served in trays, and ice was added to the bowls in summer.
I wish the Ramadan Eid to bring health and peace to all humanity...
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