In a phone conversation, a dear friend wondered whether it would be terribly orientalist to ask if I would be interested in dining in the ambiance of an Ottoman palace over a menu titled “Aphrodisiac tastes.” It probably would have been  an inappropriate question if the person on the other end of the line had not been my 26-year-old former student, Dina, from Egypt. Diligently planning her trip from Cairo to Istanbul, Dina came across one of the most amazing restaurants, Asitane (which means Constantinople), a shining star of Ottoman cuisine in Istanbul since 1991. 

No one interested in Middle Eastern or European politics could escape the term “neo-Ottoman” in the last decade. A renowned Turkish historian, Kemal Karpat, traces the concept back to 1974; Greeks apparently came up with it to indicate Turkey’s desire to be more involved in lands previously under Ottoman rule. The term has since been used to define Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu’s foreign policy doctrine. Although Davutoglu relentlessly declares, “I am not a neo-Ottoman,” his name has become synonymous with neo-Ottomanism. Despite initial hopes that it would result in accomplishments, neo-Ottomanism in the last couple of years has only seen an ambiguous foreign policy strategy at best, and a failed foreign policy strategy at worst. However, the spirit of the ancestors — the Ottomans — has been felt in various aspects of life in Turkey, from music to soap operas, from fashion to perfume.

If we ask how the idea of neo-Ottomanism has affected the food scene in Turkey and globally, the initial feedback is that it has brought mixed blessings. First, it is fair to say, you can find an Ottoman Empire-inspired Turkish restaurant in several European cities as well in the Middle East. Any frequent traveler to Cairo would point you to Osmanly Restaurant, in the Kempinski Nile Hotel, and  in Doha, Qatar, many expats would concur that the best Turkish food is served at Sukar Pasha Restaurant. In many restaurants, a common point of interest is a yearning for the palace era, for upscale dining with Ottoman ambiance and a few signature dishes. The most attractive menus include a few words about one of the famous sultans, Suleiman the Magnificent, and his beloved wife, Hurrem Sultan, who are all-time favorites.

Ottoman cuisine, centered on Istanbul, first and foremost represents the tradition of fusion. It had cosmopolitan impact of several different regions from Balkans to Arabian Peninsula, from the Mediterranean to Persian cultures. However, the palace kitchens refined all these traditions and ingredients. Therefore, any credible Imperial Palace menu would have to inform the customer about the origins of its recipe. If you are ever served a dish with the commentary “Hurrem Sultan’s favorite” and the dish has tomatoes, you can be confident Hurrem never tasted that dish because tomatoes had not yet been introduced to the Old World.