Karagöz in the Kitchen

The famous humor magazine “Karagöz”, has published its first book “Karagöz in the Kitchen”in 1913. This book was published with the purpose of raising the awareness of the public about life in general. The book is a very important source in the sense that it includes recipes that reflects the kitchen culture that extends from Ottomans until the Republic period. Although the author of the book is unknown, he has collected recipes from Western publications, which clearly shows his modernization efforts.
Foreword section of the book is followed by the “useful advice” section where the author discusses the roles of the house, family, head of the household, matron of the house and emphasizes the kitchen being the most important place in the house.

Karagöz and Hacivat have been two of the most colorful comic characters known in Turkish humor. Karagöz is known for his naïve ignorance, whereas Hacivat is the wise one who gives educational talks and advice to Karagöz. In the beginning of the book there is a conversation that takes place between these two characters. Here is an excerpt:

Hacivat - Karagöz where are you?
Karagöz - Come! I am in the kitchen.
Hacivat – Are you cooking water in the kitchen?
Karagöz – It’s been a long time since I cooked water. Hacivat I am cooking food!
Hacivat - “Teardrop in the eye of the dead, food in the gypsy’s house” (Ölü gözünde yaş çingene evinde aş) You and cooking are worlds apart!

Seminar was conducted by Asst. Prof. Efdal Sevinçli, who has translated this book into modern day Turkish. He gave a brief information about the book explained the significance, as well as the second book called “Karagöz is Getting Married” that was published by the same magazine.

The recipes are located in the third section of the book. They are written in a very basic format without getting into too much detail. At the end of the seminar the participants were offered four sample dishes from the book.

12 June 2014

Lecture video is in Turkish.