Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
the
kileri-ba
, also known as
sar-kilārī-i
āa,
or the Head of the Imperial Lar-
der. He was the chief of the third of the
Imperial Chambers which were in direct
contact with the Sultan. The staff under
the
kileri-ba
grew considerably over
the course of time, from 20 in the early
16th century to 134 in 1090/1679. The
cooks,
ā
s or
abbā
s, were organised
in an
oa
(corps), which was divided into
bölük
s, in the same way as other military
corps at the Porte. The corps was headed
by the
sar-abbāīn-i āa,
also known as
ba-ā-ba
with the rank of
āā.
As
in other corps, the
āā
was assisted by a
katudā
(lieutenant) and a
kātib,
secretary.
As professionals, the cooks were subjected
to a hierarchy as in any craft, which con-
sisted of
usta
or
ustād
,
alfa
or
alīfa,
and
āgird
(master, foreman and novice). As
a rule, a
āgird
joined the corps from the
corps of
aemī-olan
s. He learned the
profession while working under an
usta
or
ā-ba
, later becoming an
ā
, then
being promoted to
ā-ba
.
Servants under the
kileri-ba
in the
storerooms in the
Bīrūn
formed a sepa-
rate corps in ten
bölük
s. Under him were
the following:
abbāzān
(bakers),
aābān
(butchers),
alwāiyān
(
elvā
-makers),
yourtiyān
(yourt-makers),
sebzeiyān
(keepers of vegetables),
simidiyān
(mak-
ers of ring bread),
buziyān
and
ariyān
(keepers of ice and snow),
aābān
(keepers of herbs),
tavuiyān
(keepers of
poultry),
alayiyān
(tinners of the copper
utensils),
mūmiyān
(makers of candles),
saāyān
(water-carriers),
gandum-kūbān
(wheat-pounders).
Čanīgīrān
(waiters),
made a completely independent group
under a
čanīgīr-ba
in the
Bīrūn
section.
The Sultan was served by the
kileri-ba
and his staff in the
Enderūn.
The Sultan's cooks competed to please
the Sultan by preparing special dishes of
their own cooking. The Sultan showed his
pleasure by giving a reward (
inām)
. Thus
the Ottoman palace was considered as a
centre where Ottoman Turkish cooking
excelled and where creative chefs were
trained. Detailed records on the ingredi-
ents used are to be found in the kitchen
expenditure topics.
Provisions were to be supplied regularly
to the imperial kitchens under the super-
vision of a
maba emīni
, who organised
their delivery. Also responsible for topic
keeping and accounts, he was assisted by
a
katudā
, two
kātib
s (scribes) and a lar-
der attendant (
kileri
). A bureaucrat of the
rank of
w
āe
, the
emīn
was nevertheless
a dependent of the
kileri-ba
. Provisions
were bought either from the market or as
irsāliyye
or
oal
procured regularly from
the resources under the control of the
finance department.
The tremendous amount of meat con-
sumed at the imperial palaces give rise
to a vast organisation under a
aāb-
ba
, who was financially dependent on
the
maba emīni
. For the kitchens of the
Topkapı Palace alone, the annual con-
sumption of lamb was about 1,270 tons,
costing 12 million
ača
s. The other three
palaces consumed 458 tons annually.
The organisation of the kitchen in the
houses of the élite was a miniature rep-
lica of the Sultan's one. It included two
separate kitchens, one for the lord and the
other for the servants. Both had master
cooks (
usta
) and apprentices or assistants
(
āgird
). In 1082/1671 a vizier-governor,
Umar (Ömer) Paa's kitchen personnel
consisted of one
maba emīni
, also known
as
wakīl-ar
, six cooks, six pantrymen
(
kilārī
), two shopping boys and one but-
ler. Expenditure for provisions through
the
wakīl-ar
amounted to about 8,600
gold pieces or 16.7% of the Paa's total
expenditure. Members of the élite spent
an unusual amount of money for kitchen
expenses, not only because they had large
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