Democratic Sentinel, Volume 14, Number 34, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 September 1890 — His Table Etiquette Faulty. [ARTICLE]

His Table Etiquette Faulty.

The Sultan never uses a plate. He takes all his food direct from the little kettles, and never uses a table, and rarely a knife, fork or spoon—his bread, a pancake, or fingers are found far handier. It requires twice as manyslaves as there are courses to serve a dinner to him. The whole household is at liberty to take meals where it suits him or her best, and thus every one is served with a small tray, with a spoon, a great chunk of bread, and the higher ones only get the pancakes. Nearly one ton of rice per day is required for the inevitable pillaffe, 600 pounds of sugar, as much coffee, to say nothing of the other groceries, fruit, vegetables, and meat. Rice and mutton and bread form the greater part of the food for the majority of Turks, together with fish, sweetmeats, confectionery, nuts, and dried and fresh fruits. That there is enormous waste and extravagance in the kitchens is obvious, and it is said that enough is thrown away daily to maintain 100 families; but such waste is perhaps not confined to a Turkish royal household, and might also be found in kitchens nearer home. The surplus is gathered up by the beggars, with whom Constantinople abounds, and what remains is eaten by the scavengerdogs. All the water for the Sultan’s use and the drinking water for the household is brought in barrels from two pretty streams at different places in the Bosphorus toward the Black Sea.