Joint seminar with the Anglo-Turkish Society
Thursday 17 October 2019 at 6.00pm
at the Royal Anthropological Institute
Speaker: Priscilla Mary Işın
Bountiful Empire: A History of Ottoman Cuisine
The Ottoman Empire was one of the largest and longest-lasting empires in history—and one of the most culinarily inclined. According to Prof Robert Dankoff, the Ottomans saw their cuisine as reflecting the greatness of their empire. Not just the foods themselves but many related customs were an essential component in forging a shared Ottoman identity that bound people of different classes and backgrounds together. Culinary culture is a mirror of society, reflecting the way people lived, their attitudes and their relations with one another. In her talk Priscilla Mary Işın will look at various aspects of Ottoman cuisine, including its origins, influence and symbolic role in society.
Priscilla Mary Işın was born in England in 1951 and graduated in Philosophy from York University. She settled in Turkey in 1973. Her love of Turkish food aroused her interest in its history, and she began researching Ottoman cuisine in 1983. Since then she has published numerous books and articles, and presented many conference papers on the subject. Her books in English are an annotated translation of a 19th century German book on Ottoman confectionery (A King’s Confectioner in the Orient, London, 2003), a social history of Turkish sweets and desserts (Sherbet and Spice, London, 2013), and a history of Ottoman cuisine (Bountiful Empire: A History of Ottoman Cuisine, London, 2018).
Booking essential: https://priscilla-mary-isin-lecture.eventbrite.co.uk
Contact: contact@angloturkishsociety.org.uk
Location : Royal Anthropological Institute
50 Fitzroy Street
London
W1T 5BT
United Kingdom
http://www.therai.org.uk
