A celebrated Ottoman cookbook

Kamil, Mehmed / Sidqi, Muhammad ibn Ahmad, Effendi (transl.). [Melceü't Tabbahin - arabice]. Kitab malja al-tabbakhin, tarjuma min al-lugha at-turkiya ila 'arabiya.

€ 4,500.00

Arabic translation of a celebrated Ottoman cookbook, Mehmed Kamil's "Melceü't Tabbahin" (The Chef's Refuge), translated by Muhammad Sidqi Effendi. Known as the first printed Turkish cookbook, "Melceü't Tabbahin" was published in 1844, containing a baker's dozen chapters with a total of 284 recipes. Kamil provides the first printed recipes for well-known Turkish dishes like kebab, köfte, dolma, pulao rice, and baklava, adding recipes for salads, pickles, and tarators (cacik) in the margins; in some editions, including Sidqi's, these recipes were included as a 13th chapter.

Mehmed Kamil was a teacher at Mekteb-i Tibbiye-i Adliye-i Sahane (the Imperial School of Medicine) at the time he was writing "Melceü't Tabbahin". In the introduction, he states that he decided to prepare a cookbook because chefs in Istanbul were always cooking the same old dishes, ignoring new innovations. He cites as his sources food treatises written in the 18th century and recipes he learned from experienced cooks. It is indeed a unique and interesting compilation, noteworthy as the first cookbook to use tomatoes, beans and potatoes in its recipes as well as to feature western-style dishes.

"Melceü't Tabbahin" proved an instant success: the book was reprinted nine times between 1844 and 1889, translated into English and published in two editions in London in 1864 and 1888. An edition was also issued in Jerusalem in 1867. Muhammed Sidqi Effendi's Arabic translation is an indicator of the popularity of the book at the time.