Ottoman Cuisine

17th century Ottoman palaces employed cooks in countless dozens. There were some thirteen hundred career chefs housed in the Topkapi alone. Separated into divisions, each specializing in a different category of dish, chefs worked with the sole aim of pleasing the royal palette. Spanning ten domes and several buildings, the enormous kitchens of the Topkapi palace speak of the high importance placed on the culinary arts by the Ottoman sultans.