Copper and Silver Kitchen Supplies used at the Topkapı Palace Kitchens

The seminar titled: “The Serving Platters and Utensils Used in Ottoman Palace Kitchens II: Copper and Silver" presented by Mr. Ömür Tufan, took place at YESAM on 8th of October. Mr. Tufan is an expert on the matter and has been working at the Topkapı Palace kitchens for the past 17 years. Mr. Tufan started the seminar with a brief explanation of the palace kitchens and continued to explain all the different types of copper and silver used in the kitchens.

“Ottoman Empire’s Topkapı Palace kitchens fed about 5000 people daily. On special occasions, this number reached 10.000 people.

For cooking and serving the dishes, copper was an essential metal. Turkey is very rich in copper reserves, therefore obtaining copper was never a problem.

Sultan Mehmet, the Conquerer, wanted to develop an elite group of craftsmen in İstanbul that produced high-quality items. In the case of copper, he had coppersmiths from Trabzon brought to İstanbul and settled in Süleymaniye and Mercan areas. The “Süleymaniye” brand was established to produce copperware for palace use. Later on, other coppersmiths were brought in from other cities, Balkans and Caucasia and they all helped develop the copper industry of İstanbul and created new forms of copperware for palace use. ”

Later on Mr. Tufan, continued to talk about the silver dishes used in different aspects of the palace life as well as all the different kinds of food items that were served on the copper and silver dishes. 

8 October 2015 

The lecture video is in Turkish.