Rrhe Earliest Recorded Helva Recipe in Ottoman Istanbul Dates from 1473 And, More Than 500 Years Old, It Is Still Made in Exactly the Same Way
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Page 8 25 January 1990 1 HELVA rrhe earliest recorded helva recipe in Ottoman Istanbul dates from 1473 and, more than 500 years old, it is still made in exactly the same way English high society first discovered Turkish cooking when the Viceroy o f Egypt, on a state visit to England, gave a banquet aboard his yacht on July 16, 1862. A cookery book was dedicated by Turabi Effendi to the “royal and distinguished guests” who dined that evening at Woolwich on the River Thames, where the Faiz Jehad was moored. There were all kinds o f mouth watering nectared sweets among the 253 dishes Turabi Effen d i decribes, including pastries, puddings, cakes, fru it crusts, jellies, creams, stewed fru its and cr ystallised jam s. There were also no less than ¡0 different kinds o f he/va. In the West, helva for halva) is simply a sesame seed confection. Known as tahin helvası in Turkey, this is only one o f a host o f helvas sold by shops and street-sellers all over the courtry. By: Berrin TOROLSAN Palace by Mehmet the Conqueror in 1478. Nearly 730 people were employed in these Photographs: Omer ORHUN kitchens and they were later enlarged by Hakani helvası Tahin helvası Mimar Sinan, the great Ottoman architect, Flour, sugar and butter are the only in courses, before the meal ended with rice and sympathised: “A little sweet doth kill much during the golden age of Suleyman the gredients necessary to make proper home hoşaf, a cold fruit stew. bitterness.” Magnificent (1520-66) to include a new made helva. Surely the father of Often whole evenings were centred The passion for nectared sweets en hehahane and additional kitchens. These sweetmeats, it is nourishing, easy to prepare around helva. The grandest helva party the sured a perpetual feast. Little wonder the were destroyed by fire during the reign of and delicious, although for those brought historian Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall Ottoman Empire lasted so long. Suleyman’s successor, but were quickly up on Mars Bars the taste is subtle and may ever attended was at the Arsenal on the eve ASÛDE HELVASI (Peace Helva)-a rebuilt by Sinan. need acquiring. It is certainly worth it. of the launching of a man-of-war by the helva from a cookery-book of 1764 The world helva is derived from the By 1800 the hehahane was more like Sultan in 1799. a factory than a palace kitchen. The Ger Arabic “h u h ”, meaning sweet, gentle Helvas were also an important part of man traveller Murhard claimed in his and kind. Helva, in helva-eating lands, has more modest entertainments in old Istanbul. always been a symbol of happiness and memoirs that as many as 600 helvaci were After supper each evening people used to wealth, a traditional reward, treat or pre working there. Sinan’s kitchens were still in visit each other’s houses to play games, sent preserved for holy days, weddings and use in 1924 and continue to dominate the philosophise, listen to story-tellers, make skyline with their curious chimneys. funerals. At the end of wars, it was also the music and poetry, and watch performing custom for rival camps to send each other “ peace” helva. Even when the expanding Ottoman Empire brought ever greater finesse nad variety to Turkish cusine, helvas changed lit tle. Surviving Ottoman recipes and İrmik helvası travellers’ accounts make it clear that they compiled by the son of the Şeyhülislam. held their own in the heady accumulation Nine helvas appear among his 200 recipes of puddings, baklavas, cakes and other and he describes Asude Helvası as “ light, sweets. Helva was as most at imperial ban dainty and wholesome”. quets as at country gatherings. 1 cup o f starch The earliest recorded helva recipe in Ot Pişmaniye helvası 1 cup o f sugar or honey toman Istanbul dates from 1473, just 20 ‘A cup o f butter years after the Ottoman conquest of the ci Gaziler helvası Pişmaniye helvası 1 cup o f spring water ty. It appears in Mehmet the Conqueror’s lA cup o f rose water monthly kitchen accounts and is called, Certainly worth a nibble are the round white wafers with a sweet paste filling known as kağıt • Put the starch, sugar or honey and suitably, “helva-i hakant”, imperial helva. helvası, literally paper helva; a sesame seed candy called susam helvası; a nougat with walnuts called kos helvası; and the white cotton candy, pişmaniye or “source o f regret" Many towns water into a heavy saucepan and stir until Whether it was simply his favourite helva have their specialities. Pişmaniye, for instance, should only be bought in İzmit on the Sea or created for him is not known, it might Continued on Page 6 of Marmara, while kağıt helvası is traditionally eaten with a glass o f tea under the great plane well have become imperial in honour of tree at Emirgan on the Bosphorus. another, earlier ruler, but five centuries These confections, although traditional, are not the home or palace-made helvas that Turabi later imperial helva is still made in exactly Effendi, “emboldened by the unanimous approval o f England’s fairest ladies and greatest the same way. sta tesm a n ’ to o k p a in s ' ‘to render accurate and concise". Referred to sim ply as sweetmeats The hehahane was one of the three b v puzzled travellers a century ago, Turabi Effendi’s Helvas are altogether o f another world. domed halls of the kitchens built at Topkapi Helva from the palace helvahane was dancers and shadow-theatre puppets. For not only offered to the sultan, his family Nedim, poet of the early 18th century Tulip and servants but it was also distributed on Period, these helva evenings, as they were great silver salvers, the size of dining room called, were winter’s answer to rose gardens tables, to the palaces of royal relatives and and summer fêtes. high officials, and to barracks, schools, Ending on a sweet note meant that no hospitals, and the poor. matter how much veiled acrimony had The earliest salver surviving in the flown during the evening, everybody left palace kitchens today bears the tugra, or happily. The helva was served late in the monogram of Ahmed I and the year evening before coffee, sometimes with H. 1026(1627) of the Islamic calendar. Made pickles to bring out the sweetness and of copper but originally gilded, it is inscrib sharpen the taste buds. “Tatlıyiyelim, tatlı ed with the words “helvahane-i has”, the konuşalım”, eat sweetly, talk sweetly, they imperial helvahane, four lines of verse in said in Istanbul. And as Keats would have Asûde helvası praise of the chief helva chef and prayers for the chief helva chef and for the well being of the Sultan. It has four handles, which were presumably for four bearers, and it must have seated eight comfortably. At a feast given by Mahmut II in 1836 on the Sweet Waters of Europe at the head of Istanbul’s Golden Horn, helva plays a curious role in the menu. Helmut von Moltke, who later masterminded the Prus sian advance on Paris, was in Turkey to help reform the army. He describes in a letter to his mother how there was continual succe- sion of dishes, hot, cold, sour and sweet. Helva appeared in the middle of the meal, Kağıt helvası to be followed by yet more hot and cold Susam helvası Jeudi 25 janvier 1990 p a g e 8 Chronique et mélanger encore. Faire chauffer le mélange douce ment, en tournant avec une cuillère en bois. Le mélange épaissit rapidement et LE HELVA risque de brûler si vous ne tourner pas iLa première recette de Helva d’Istanbul remonte à 1473 constamment. Quand le beurre se sépare de la pâte, et 500 ans plus tard c’est toujours cette recette ottomane le halva est cuit. Ajouter un peu d ’eau de que l’on utilise rose, mélanger une ou deux fois et lais ser refroidir en mélangeant de temps à Par Berrin TOROLSAN nouveau “helvahane” qui fut détruit par un autre. Ajouter le reste de l ’eau de rose incendie puis reconstruit par Sinan durant quant la préparation devient friable. Photos de Ômer ORHUN le règne du successeur de Soliman. A servir froid ou légèrement tiède De la farine, du beurre et du sucre sont Dans les années 1800 le “ helvahane” avec un bon morceau de crème en les seuls ingrédients necéssaires pour faire à était plus comme une usine que comme une grumeaux. la maison du vrai Halva. Très certainement cuisine de palais. Un voyageur allemand, İrmik Helvası (Halva à la semoule) c’est l’ancêtre de la confiserie, nourrissant, Mirhard, raconte dans ses mémoires que 600 Cette recette est servie traditionnelle ment aux mariages à la compagne, aux facile à préparer et délicieux bien que pour personnes y travaillaient. Les cusines de enterrements, aux réunions familiales et la génération élevée aux barres de chocolats Sinan sont restées en service jusqu’en 1924 aux fêtes religieuses ou “mevlût” et Mars, le goût soit un peu subtil et nécessite et leurs curieusses cheminées se découpent envoyée aux voisins et connaisances. une initiation. Mais cela en vaut le peine. toujours dans le ciel. 2 tasses de lait Le Halva n’était pas seulement destiné Le mot “Halva” provient de l’Arabe 1 tasse de sucre en poudre au Sultan, à sa famille et à ses serviteurs. Hakani helvası “ Hulv” qui veut dire, sucré, gentil et bon.