VOLUMEVOLUME XVI, XXV, NUMBER NUMBER 4 1 FALL WINTER 2000 2009 Quarterly Publication of the Culinary Historians of Ann Arbor Sweets from the Middle East (Part 2) Painting of a confectioner, or helvahâneli, in his official attire from the Topkapı imperial kitchens of Istanbul, Turkey. Joan Peterson’s article about Turkish halvah begins on page 3 inside. Image from Ottoman Costume Book: a Facsimile Edition of Osmanh Kiyafetleri by Fenerci Melmed, 1986. REPAST VOLUME XXV, NUMBER 1 WINTER 2009 MORSELS & TIDBITS Ann Fowler, a cherished veteran member of the Culinary and Wine in America: A Remarkable Story”. Curated by CHAA Historians, passed away on February 14 after a long illness. founding members Prof. Dan Longone and Jan Longone, it Ann’s devotion and unflagging service over many years will opened on February 16 and runs until May 29, 2009. The remain forever in our hearts and memories. She volunteered for a Longones will present a lecture about the exhibition, co-sponsored variety of tasks within CHAA, and was a docent at the by CHAA, on May 10 (see calendar on p. 20 for details). University of Michigan’s William L. Clements Library, where she labored to help establish and organize the culinary archives. CHAA member Ann Larimore, a professor emerita of Our deepest condolences go to Ann’s husband and fellow geography and women’s studies at the University of Michigan, CHAA member, Don Fowler. gave a talk there on March 19, “The Trouble with Tractors: Speaking up for the Ox”. Her presentation, part of the Turkish Nor is it easy to imagine the UM Clements Library without Studies Colloquium, examined what happened to traditional wheat- Jan Longone, who has made known her intention to retire there based farming villages in Turkey in the 1950’s, when tractors and later this year as Curator of American Culinary History. The other equipment was introduced on a large scale to “modernize” Clements plans to hire a new curator to fill this position. Visit the countryside. Ann will be speaking to CHAA in April about the http://www.h-net.org/jobs/display_job.php?jobID=38366 for the foods of Mali (see calendar on p. 20 for details). details as to job specifications and qualifications. Another CHAA member, M. Joanne Nesbit, a writer and The Third Biennial Symposium on American Culinary senior PR representative for the University of Michigan, was History, which was scheduled to be held this May at the UM elected in May 2008 to a two-year term on the Board of Directors Clements Library with the theme “Chefs, Restaurants and of the Washtenaw County Historical Society. Menus”, has been postponed. However, the library has been very pleased to present a new culinary exhibit, “500 Years of Grapes The Holmes family of Chelsea, MI, had already been in the flour milling business for five generations when they founded the Chelsea Milling Company there in 1901. “Jiffy Mix”, which would become world famous, was born in 1930 when Mabel White Holmes had the idea of selling packages of pre-mixed biscuit powder, so that even a widower raising children by himself could provide his kids with fine, fluffy biscuits. Mabel became company ISSN 1552-8863 president in 1936 after her husband Howard was killed in a grain- Published quarterly by the elevator accident. These and other episodes are chronicled by Ann Arbor author Cynthia Furlong Reynolds in her corporate history, Culinary Historians of Ann Arbor (CHAA) Jiffy: A Family Tradition, Mixing Business and Old-Fashioned http://www.culinaryhistoriansannarbor.org Values (Chelsea, MI: Chelsea Milling Co., 2008; 248 pp., $24.95 hardback). Current President and CEO Howard “Howdy” S. An archive is available at http://www.aadl.org/cooks/repast Holmes and his family have been generous supporters of the Editor……………….…….…..……Randy K. Schwartz Biennial Symposium on American Culinary History. CHAA President………..……….……Carroll Thomson CHAA Program Chair………..…………..…Julie Lewis Earlier this year, McGill University in Montreal launched CHAA Treasurer………..…………..……Dan Longone CuiZine: The Journal of Canadian Food Cultures / Revue des CHAA Founder and Honorary President…Jan Longone cultures culinaires au Canada. This peer-reviewed online journal aims to nourish intellectual exchanges on the subject of food in Canada from multicultural perspectives. The Executive Editor is Nathalie Cooke, Associate Dean for Research and Graduate The material contained in this publication is copyrighted. Passages may be copied or quoted provided that the source is credited. Studies at McGill. The home page is www.cuizine.mcgill.ca, and the first issue can be viewed at For submissions or inquiries about Repast, contact: www.erudit.org/revue/cuizine/2008/v1/n1/index.html. Randy K. Schwartz “From Hardtack to MRE’s: A Military Foodways 1044 Greenhills Drive Symposium” is scheduled to occur on April 15-16, 2009 at Kansas Ann Arbor, MI 48105-2722 State University, organized by KSU Hale Library’s Center for the tel. 734-662-5040 [email protected] Cookbook. The keynote address will be given by Colonel George A. Dilly, Ph.D., RD, LD, who is a KSU alumnus and U.S. Army Subscriptions are $15/year. To subscribe to Repast Chief Dietician. Further information can be found at or to become a CHAA member (which includes a http://www.lib.ksu.edu/symposium. subscription), contact: On the Back Burner: We invite ideas and submissions for Carroll Thomson these planned future theme-issues of Repast: Episodes in the 4600 W. Liberty History of Breakfast Cereals (Spring 2009); Cultivation and Use of Ann Arbor, MI 48103 tel. 734-662-8661 Fruits (Summer 2009); Scandinavian-American Food Traditions [email protected] (Fall 2009). Suggestions for future themes are also welcome. 2 REPAST VOLUME XXV, NUMBER 1 WINTER 2009 ture and was eaten at the end of the ritual where a spiritual merging with the divine was sought by HALVAH IN repeated invocation of a holy chant. Halvah’s importance grew during the Ottoman OTTOMAN TURKEY period. The fragmentation of the Selçuk empire in Anatolia paved the way for independent Turkish bands by Joan Peterson to carve up the former Selçuk state into smaller, rival fiefdoms. The Ottomans swept away all challengers Dr. Joan B. Peterson of Madison, WI was a founding over a period of about two centuries and in 1453 they member of the Culinary History Enthusiasts of snatched the coveted prize of Constantinople (now Wisconsin (CHEW) in June 2000. Joan’s previous Istanbul) from the Byzantines, adding it to their article in Repast was “Maize: Mexico’s Gift to the World” (Spring 2003). She is a retired biochemist sultanate. Sultan Mehmet II the Conqueror wasted little (University of Wisconsin, Madison) and time erecting the splendid Topkapı Palace in Istanbul author/publisher of the award-winning Eat Smart series shortly after he took over the city. Judging from the of culinary travel guidebooks to Turkey, Morocco, huge kitchen it housed, topped with four large domes, Mexico, and several other countries. Over the last 35 it was apparent that culinary arts played a major role in years, Joan and her husband David have traveled and daily affairs. In fact, Turkish cuisine under the tutelage led tours around the world. She has planned two of the Ottoman sultans flourished at the hands of many culinary tours for 2009, to Turkey (Aug. 7-16) and to skilled cooks anxious to please them and gain Sicily (Sep. 29-Aug. 9); for more information, visit promotion. These cooks not only had their culinary http://eatsmartguides.com/tours.html. heritage to draw upon, but had access to just about every existing ingredient in the vast empire of the alvah (helva) is the oldest type of dessert in Ottomans. These exotic foodstuffs and spices became a Turkish cuisine, writes noted Turkish culinary part of an ever-growing repertoire of dishes that expert, Nevin Halıcı, in her book Turkish H appeared in the sumptuous, multiple-course meals Cookery; the earliest known recipe for halvah dates to th presented to the sultans. the 11 Century. The name is derived from the Arabic root hulw, or halwa, meaning sweet, and describes a All the while, the size and complexity of the large family of confections in the Middle East, Central kitchen staff increased to feed the growing number of and South Asia, and the Balkans. people living on the palace grounds. At the end of the 16th Century, according to the imperial records, a staff Halvah has three basic ingredients: a starch, a fat, of 200 live-in cooks toiled in the kitchen. In a mere 50 and a sweetener. It most commonly is made with years, this number rose to about 1,400. They fed up to semolina, but several other distinct versions of halvah 10,000 people in a single day, including those meals exist. To prepare this sweet, semolina (or equivalent) destined for diners outside the palace as a token of the typically is toasted or fried while constantly stirring it sultan’s favor. To accommodate this flurry of culinary with a wooden spoon, sometimes together with butter, activity, the kitchen was enlarged during the reign of until golden brown. Liquid, scalded milk for example, Süleyman the Magnificent (1520–1566). The imperial is then mixed in, along with sugar or reduced grape architect, Sinan, added the six-domed Has Mutfak and juice (pekmez) and melted butter. Frequently almonds, Helvahâne (literally, the “house of halvah”). Sweets, pine nuts, or pistachios are added for flavor. especially halvah, fruit conserves, syrups, and macun, jelly-like pastes claimed to have healing effects, were The writings of the Islamic mystics, the Sufis, made in the Helvahâne. provide considerable insight into the nature of Turkish th cuisine in the 13 Century.