Bountiful Empire

Bountiful Empire: A History of Ottoman Cuisine examines the food of the Ottoman Empire – one of the largest and longest-lasting empires in history – as it changed and evolved over more than five centuries. From sultans to soldiers, food bound people of different classes and backgrounds together, defining identity and serving symbolic functions in the social, religious, political and military spheres.

Starting with an overview of the earlier culinary traditions in which Ottoman cuisine was rooted, such as those of the Central Asian Turks, Abbasids, Seljuks and Byzantines, the book focuses on diverse aspects of this rich culinary culture, including etiquette, cooks, restaurants, military food, food laws and food trade. This meticulously researched account draws on more than six hundred primary and secondary sources, ranging from archive documents to poetry, and includes over one hundred illustrations. It is a fresh and lively insight into an empire that until recent decades has been sidelined or viewed through orientalist spectacles.