Ottomanesque Trend in Tables

There is no question that there is an augmenting quest for anything Ottoman in the recent years. Thanks to historical soap operas on TV channels, everything with an Ottoman tag sells, more so in the Ramadan period. With the raging hype for Ottoman revivalism, almost all high-class restaurants and hotels try to feature an Ottoman concept in their kitchen, particularly during the holy month of Ramadan. 

What exactly is Ottoman cooking, what is its difference from the traditional food in Turkey? The answer is blurry; most people take it as dishes that no longer exist, belonging to a bygone past, and definitely related to the palace. Even if a dish that is recorded in the archives of the Topkapı Palace is still made in homes or in corner eateries such as the yaprak sarma (wrapped vine leaves) or the ubiquitous karnıyarık (split-belly mincemeat stuffed aubergines), it won't count as Ottoman. The perception is that it must be historically exotic, like stuffed melons, or lamb neck with apricots; better if it has an incomprehensible name in today's Turkish, like tuffahiye, and apples stuffed with meat. Nobody seems to think Ottoman in terms of geography, stretching the concept to former Ottoman lands, like the Balkans or the Middle East, as far as Hungary, or Egypt, here the cuisines of several countries have a strong Ottoman legacy. Dr. Özge Samancı, an expert historian on Ottoman cookery, says she usually uses the term to refer to court cuisine in Istanbul, but also points to the fact that all countries in the former Ottoman territory share certain common tastes to some extent; but at the same time, she mentions that there are also regional differences within the territories of old Ottoman lands. 

Though it is always the geography that rules in a region's...