FOOD OF THE TURKS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 5136, 8 September 1877, Page 2 (Supplement)

FOOD OF THE TURKS.

(From the German of Reich),

Like all Orientals, the Turks have a cookery of the simplest kind; and, though they eat their food with eagerness, they are, nevertheless, disinclined to excess. Epicures are rare among them, and those Turks who are devoted to luxurious living have acquired the taste in Western Europe. It deserves to be remarked that the 'Turks consume more of vegetable than of animal food? and, appertaining to the first, they make use of rice, of fruits, and of bread. Let us : next speak of the drinks of the Turks. By the Koran wine, is forbidden. In the Latin translation of the Koran, which was published by Marraccio (Luigi Marraccio ; Aleorani Textus Univeisus ; Batavii, 1698) it is said : “ Interrogabunt te de vino et alea. Responds : In utroque est peccatum grave, et utilitates hominitras ; sed peccatum utriusque inajua est, quam utilitas utriusque.” [They will interrogate thee concerning wine and concerning gambling. Reply: In both there is grievous sin, and in both there are utilities to man; hut the sin of both is greater than the usefulness of both.] {Aim was a species of die; it also meant the dice-playing which was forbidden in ancient Rome. In the Latin translation of the Koran it signifies gaming of all sorts.) In his comments on the passage Marraccio: observes: —“Mahumetus in concessione "Veneris liberalissimus, in viui, ludique interdict© . rigidissimum se ostendit. A vino, ac lude, virtutis causa, et pnesertim, ad camis libidines fraenandas, ahstinere, laudabile est. Fecerunt et faciunt ’ hoc plnres etiam ex nostris. Haec etiam vero, sel quia suapte natura mala sint, vel quia aliqnorum malorum, causa aliquando exis ant, absolute damuare, intolerrabilis amentia est.” [Mahomet, excessively liberal in what he grants to the demands of love, shows liimself very strict in the interdiction of wine dud gambling. To abstain from wine and gambling for the sake of virtue, and in order to- restrain the lusts of the flesh, is laudable., : This, among us, many have done, and do. But absolutely to condemn those same things, ' either because they are in their nature evil, or because they are sometimes the source of certain evils, is intolerable madness.] Though wine is forbidden by the Koran, a considerable quantity of wine is drunk by the Turks ; but this takes place in secret. A master’s most .trusted servant brings him the wine in a metal vessel, and makes people believe that; the drink is physic. It is chiefly in the evening that such tricks are played. Those who, in accordance with the Koran, regard the drinking of wine as sinful, make use of other spirituous drinks, especially brandy, of which there is a'large consumption in Mahommedan lands. In his travels in the East, which took place more than a hundred years ago, Russel made the observation that in Syria principally, Christians and. Jews consumed arrack, which they prepared from raisins. Our traveller says; —‘■They distil from raisins, with which usually aniseed is mixed; a strong drink called arrack, which is extensively consumed by Christians and Jews.” Moreover, arrack is a drink which is, a great favorite with Orientals in general. The poorer classes of the Turkish population restrict themselves for the moat part to water, which is much more prodigally employed, and held in much greater reverence, in the East than in Europe. The excessive heat of Eastern lands causes an immense consumption pf ceding drinks and of ice ; but the ice is hot a compact mass like that used in Europe ; it consists of a mixture of snow or ice and milk, br the juices of fruits. The most important of all the Oriental cooling drinks are the sorhits, or sherbets—the juices of fruits mixed with iced water. A beverage which is generally made by Armenians, and which is much in vogue, is raki. It is prepared from the juice of dates, and is alcoholic. One of the drinks the most frequently and abundantly taken by the Turks is coffee, but differing essentially from the infusion of coffee-beans customary among us. It is used without milk and sugar, is unfiltered, and has thus all the grounds; and is often drunk in such quantities 'as to seem to us fabulous. Many a Turk drinks daily eighty cups of coffee. Prom the peculiar mode of roasting the coffee-beans, and the skilful way of infusion—to ensure which special cooks in wealthy Turkish households are appointed, who are called kahwedschi—a liquid is obtained much' more concentrated, and containing a far richer aroma, than the coffee met with in Western Europe. As regards the kind of food consumed by the Turks, old Rauwolf (whoso work appeared at Frankfort in 1582), the first German who mentioned coffee and its extensive use among the Orientals, has given iis a copious description thereof ; and, as belonging to the most recent period, Lorenz Rigler must be named, whose account we gladly'recognise as the . cbmpletest, and to which we 'earnestly refer our readers. To Rlgler’s statements respecting the narcotics, wo shall have more than once 'occasion subsequently to allude. It is the flesh of sheep, and next to it that of goats, til at the Turks are fondest of. In addition they eat the flesh of fowls, of pigeons, of francolins [ Tclmo Franlcolinus), of geese. Swine’s flesh they are forbidden by tiie Koran to touch. Veal is not eaten, nor is beef; though 'Russel avets the Christians living among tho Turks' eat it. Finally, the flesh of hares is not held in much esteem by the Otto-

mans. In regard to meats and drinks the reforming Turks differ much from the conservative Turks, and indulge in many things which seem to the * latter sins. Though the Koran forbids the eating of the flesh of animals which have died naturally, or which have been killed and torn by wild beasts, or which have perished from the effect of apoplexy, or which have been put to death in an improper fashion j yet the poorer classes are always eager to obtain the flesh of such animals, especially —as is not seldom the case —when they can purchase it for a small sum. Eggs, by themselves, are seldom eaten by the Turks ; but. they are made use of in cookery.The reforming Turks, from living after European fashion, consume more eggs than their conservative brethren. As has already been stated, butter is consumed in large quantities, and is, like cheese, made from the milk of buffaloes, of sheep, and of goats ; the milk of these various animals is also an article of food. Besides rice, previously indicated, which is the most important of all their aliments and fruits, the Turks tike from the vegetable kingdom maize, the flour of the different kinds of grain, cucumbers, melons, and many spices, ’