Page 8 25 January 1990
HELVA
rrhe earliest recorded helva recipe in Ottoman Istanbul
dates from 1473 and, more than 500 years old, it is still
made in exactly the same way
English high society first discovered Turkish cooking when the Viceroy o f Egypt, on a state visit to England, gave a banquet aboard his yacht on July 16, 1862. A cookery book was dedicated by Turabi Effendi to the “royal and distinguished guests” who dined that evening at Woolwich on the River Thames, where the Faiz Jehad was moored.
There were a ll kin ds o f m outh watering n ectared sw eets am ong th e 253 dish es Turabi E ffen d i decribes, including pastries, puddings, cakes, fr u it crusts, jellies, creams, stew ed fr u its and cr ystallised ja m s. There were also no less than ¡0 differen t kin ds o f he/va.
In the West, helva for halva) is sim ply a sesame seed confection. Known as tahin helvası in Turkey, this is only one o f a host o f helvas sold by shops and street-sellers all over the courtry.
By: Berrin TOROLSAN
Photographs: Omer ORHUN
Flour, sugar and butter are the only in gredients necessary to make proper home made helva. Surely th e father of sweetmeats, it is nourishing, easy to prepare and delicious, although for those brought up on Mars Bars the taste is subtle and may need acquiring. It is certainly worth it.
The world helva is derived from the Arabic “h u h ”, meaning sweet, gentle and kind. Helva, in helva-eating lands, has always been a symbol of happiness and wealth, a traditional reward, treat or pre sent preserved for holy days, weddings and funerals. At the end of wars, it was also the custom for rival camps to send each other “ peace” helva.
Even when the expanding Ottoman Empire brought ever greater finesse nad variety to Turkish cusine, helvas changed lit tle. Surviving O ttom an recipes and travellers’ accounts make it clear that they held their own in the heady accumulation of puddings, baklavas, cakes and other sweets. Helva was as most at imperial ban quets as at country gatherings.
The earliest recorded helva recipe in Ot toman Istanbul dates from 1473, just 20 years after the Ottoman conquest of the ci ty. It appears in Mehmet the Conqueror’s monthly kitchen accounts and is called, suitably, “helva-i hakant”, imperial helva. Whether it was simply his favourite helva or created for him is not known, it might well have become imperial in honour of another, earlier ruler, but five centuries later imperial helva is still made in exactly the same way.
The hehahane was one of the three domed halls of the kitchens built at Topkapi
Palace by Mehmet the Conqueror in 1478. Nearly 730 people were employed in these kitchens and they were later enlarged by Mimar Sinan, the great Ottoman architect, during the golden age o f Suleyman the Magnificent (1520-66) to include a new
hehahane and additional kitchens. These
were destroyed by fire during the reign of Suleyman’s successor, but were quickly rebuilt by Sinan.
By 1800 the hehahane was more like a factory than a palace kitchen. The Ger man traveller Murhard claimed in his memoirs that as many as 600 helvaci were working there. Sinan’s kitchens were still in use in 1924 and continue to dominate the skyline with their curious chimneys.
1
Hakani helvası
courses, before the meal ended with rice and
hoşaf, a cold fruit stew.
Often whole evenings were centred around helva. The grandest helva party the historian Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall ever attended was at the Arsenal on the eve of the launching of a man-of-war by the Sultan in 1799.
Helvas were also an important part of more modest entertainments in old Istanbul. After supper each evening people used to visit each other’s houses to play games, philosophise, listen to story-tellers, make music and poetry, and watch performing
Tahin helvası
sympathised: “ A little sweet doth kill much bitterness.”
The passion for nectared sweets en sured a perpetual feast. Little wonder the Ottoman Empire lasted so long.
ASÛDE HELVASI (Peace Helva)-a helva from a cookery-book of 1764
Pişmaniye helvası
Gaziler helvası Pişmaniye helvası
Certainly worth a nibble are the round white wafers with a sweet paste filling known as kağıt
helvası, literally paper helva; a sesame seed candy called susam helvası; a nougat with walnuts
called kos helvası; and the white cotton candy, pişmaniye or “source o f regret" Many towns have their specialities. Pişmaniye, f o r instance, should only be bought in İzm it on the Sea o f Marmara, while kağıt helvası is traditionally eaten with a glass o f tea under the great plane tree at Emirgan on the Bosphorus.
These confections, although traditional, are n o t th e hom e o r palace-m ade helvas th a t Turabi E ffendi, “em bolden ed b y the unanim ous approval o f E n glan d’s fa ire st ladies an d greatest statesm an ’ to o k p a in s ' ‘to render accurate a n d concise". R eferred to sim ply as sw eetm eats
b v p u zzled travellers a century ago, Turabi E ffen d i’s H elvas are altogeth er o f anoth er world.
İrmik helvası
compiled by the son of the Şeyhülislam. Nine helvas appear among his 200 recipes and he describes Asude Helvası as “ light, d ain ty an d w holesom e” .
1 cup o f starch 1 cup o f sugar or honey ‘A cup o f butter 1 cup o f spring water lA cup o f rose water
• Put the starch, sugar or honey and
water into a heavy saucepan and stir until
Continued on Page 6
Kağıt helvası
Helva from the palace helvahane was not only offered to the sultan, his family and servants but it was also distributed on great silver salvers, the size of dining room tables, to the palaces of royal relatives and high officials, and to barracks, schools, hospitals, and the poor.
The earliest salver surviving in the palace kitchens today bears the tugra, or monogram of Ahmed I and the year H. 1026(1627) of the Islamic calendar. Made of copper but originally gilded, it is inscrib ed with the words “helvahane-i has”, the imperial helvahane, four lines of verse in praise of the chief helva chef and prayers for the chief helva chef and for the well being of the Sultan. It has four handles, which were presumably for four bearers, and it must have seated eight comfortably.
At a feast given by Mahmut II in 1836 on the Sweet Waters of Europe at the head of Istanbul’s Golden Horn, helva plays a curious role in the menu. Helmut von Moltke, who later masterminded the Prus sian advance on Paris, was in Turkey to help reform the army. He describes in a letter to his mother how there was continual succe- sion of dishes, hot, cold, sour and sweet. Helva appeared in the middle of the meal, to be followed by yet more hot and cold
dancers and shadow-theatre puppets. For Nedim, poet of the early 18th century Tulip Period, these helva evenings, as they were called, were winter’s answer to rose gardens and summer fêtes.
Ending on a sweet note meant that no matter how much veiled acrimony had flown during the evening, everybody left happily. The helva was served late in the evening before coffee, sometimes with pickles to bring out the sweetness and sharpen the taste buds. “Tatlıyiyelim, tatlı
konuşalım”, eat sweetly, talk sweetly, they
said in Istanbul. And as Keats would have Asûde helvası
p age 8
Chronique
J e u d i 2 5 ja n v ie r 1990
LE HELVA
iLa première recette de Helva d’Istanbul remonte à 1473
et 500 ans plus tard c’est toujours cette recette ottomane
que l’on utilise
Par Berrin TOROLSAN
Photos de Ômer ORHUN
De la farine, du beurre et du sucre sont les seuls ingrédients necéssaires pour faire à la maison du vrai Halva. Très certainement c’est l’ancêtre de la confiserie, nourrissant, facile à préparer et délicieux bien que pour la génération élevée aux barres de chocolats Mars, le goût soit un peu subtil et nécessite une initiation. Mais cela en vaut le peine.Le mot “ Halva” provient de l’Arabe “ Hulv” qui veut dire, sucré, gentil et bon. Le mot “ Halva” dans les pays où l’on en mange a toujours été synonime de joie et de santé, de récompense et de cadeau pour les jours de fêtes, les mariages et les enterre ments. C’est également une habitude pour célébrer la fin d’une guerre, d ’en envoyer à ses adversaires en signe de paix.
Au temps de l’expansion de l’Empire Ottoman la cuisine turque variait en finesse et en diversités mais le Halva restait le même. Les recettes ottomanes et les récits de voyageurs parvenus jusqu’à nous, trou vent que le Halva a tenu bon parmi les nom breuses sucreries, gâteau “ Baklava” et puddings.
Le Halva était indispensable aux ban quets impériaux comme aux simples repas campagnards.
La plus ancienne recette de Halva d’Istanbul date de 1473,20 ans après la con quête de la ville par les Ottomans. Le Halva apparait dans les desciptions mensuelles des menus de Mehmet le Conquérant et est appellé très justement “ helva-i hakani” . C’est-à-dire Halva impérial. On ne sait si c’était sa recette favorie de halva ou bien une recette créée pour lui.
Il se peut que cette recette soit devenue impériale avant cette date mais toujours est- il que 5 siècles plus tard c’est toujours cette même recette que nous utilisons.
Le “ helvahane” est l’une des trois par ties surmontées d’un dôme de la cuisine du palais de Topkapi construite par Mehmet le Conquérant en 1478. Près de 730 personnes travaillaient dans ces cuisines qui furent plus tard agrandies par Mimar Sinan, le grand Architecte ottoman, à l’âge d ’or de Soliman le Magnifique (1520-1566) qui y ajouta un
nouveau “ helvahane” qui fut détruit par un incendie puis reconstruit par Sinan durant le règne du successeur de Soliman.
Dans les années 1800 le “ helvahane” était plus comme une usine que comme une cuisine de palais. Un voyageur allemand, Mirhard, raconte dans ses mémoires que 600 personnes y travaillaient. Les cusines de Sinan sont restées en service jusqu’en 1924 et leurs curieusses cheminées se découpent toujours dans le ciel.
Le Halva n’était pas seulement destiné au Sultan, à sa famille et à ses serviteurs. Il était distribué sur des grands plateaux d’argent, de la taille d’une table de salle-à- manger, aux officiels et invités Royaux, aux militaires, aux écoles, aux hôpitaux et aux pauvres. Le plus ancien plateau restant dans la cuisine du palais porte le “ tuğra” ou monogramme de Ahmet 1 en l’an 1026 de l’Eğire soit 1627. Ce plateau en cuivre, doré autrefois, porte l’inscription suivante “ helvahane-i has” , “ halvahane” impérial, quatre versets d’une prière dédiée au bien être du Sultan. Ce plateau est muni de 4 poi gnées destinées sans douté à quatre porteurs qui auraient aussi bien pu être huit.
Lors d’un festin donné par Mahmut 11 en 1836 aux Eaux douces d ’Europe à la
Hakani helvası
avait recouvert la soirée, on terminait par une note sucrée et tout le monde partait joyeux. Le Halva était servi tard dans la soi rée, avant le café parfois accompagné de cornichons qui en faisait ressortir la douceur et la finesse du goût.
“ Tatlı yiyelim, tatlı konuşalım” “ Mangeons sucré, disons de gentilles ses” , disait-on à Istanbul. Le poète Keats n’aurait pas désavoué ce proverbe: “ Une petite note sucrée annihile beaucoup d’amertume” . La passion des sucreries assure la fête, continuelle.
Pas étonnant que l’Empire Ottoman ait duré si longtemps.
Pişmaniye helvası
Gaziler helvası Pişmaniye helvası
Certaines villes ont leurs spécialités comme p a r exemple ¡es “pişm aniye” d ’Izmit sur la mer de Marmara. L e "Kağıt helvası” est traditionnellement mangé avec un verre de thé à l ’ombre d'un platane à Emirgan sur le Bosphore. Ces spécialités bien que traditionnelles ne fo n t p as par tie des recettes décrites et "encouragées p a r l ’approbation unanime des élégantes ladies anglai ses et des plus grands hommes d ’état "que E ffendi a p ris la peine de transcrire de façon claire et précise. Mentionnés comme de sim ples sucreries par les divers voyageurs du siècle dernier, les H alvas décrits p a r Turabi E ffendi appartiennent tout simplement à un autre monde.
Kağıt helvası
pointe de la Corne d ’or, le Halva tient une place inattendue dans le menu. Helmut von Moltke qui dirigera plus tard l’avance prus sienne sur Paris, était en Turquie pour réfor mer l’armée impériale. Il décrit dans une lettre à sa mère la succession de plats chauds, froids , aigres et sucrés. Le halva apparait au milieu du repas et est suivi d ’un encore plus grand nombre de plats chauds et froids et terminé par du riz et du “ hoşaf” une compote de fruits.
Souvent une soirée entière se faisait autour du seul Halva. La plus grande “ soi rée Halva” à laquelle ait assisté l’historien Joseph Von Hammer-Purgstall a eu lieu à l’arsenal offerte par le Sultan en 1799, le soir de l’arrivée d ’un bâtiment de guerre. Le Halva faisait partie également des dîners plus modestes offerts à Istanbul. Après le souper, il était coutume de se rendre visite pour faire des jeux, parler de philosophie ou écouter des compteurs, faire de la musi que ou de la poésie, regarder des danseurs ou des théâtres d’ombres.
Pour le poète Nedim, qui vécu au 18ème siècle “ période de la Tulipe” , les soirées Halva, comme on les appelait étaient la réplique hivernale des soirées autour des roses du jardin, en été.
Quelque soit le voile acrimonieux qui
et mélanger encore.
Faire chauffer le mélange douce ment, en tournant avec une cuillère en bois. Le mélange épaissit rapidement et risque de brûler si vous ne tourner pas constamment.
Quand le beurre se sépare de la pâte, le halva est cuit. Ajouter un peu d ’eau de rose, mélanger une ou deux fois et lais ser refroidir en mélangeant de temps à autre. Ajouter le reste de l ’eau de rose quant la préparation devient friable.
A servir froid ou légèrement tiède avec un bon morceau de crème en grumeaux.
İrmik Helvası (Halva à la semoule) Cette recette est servie traditionnelle m e n t a u x mariages à la compagne, aux enterrements, a u x réunions fam iliales et a u x fêtes religieuses ou “m e v lû t” et envoyée a u x voisins et connaisances.
2 tasses de lait
1 tasse d e sucre en poudre 1/2 tasse de beurre
1/2 tasse d ’am andes ém ondées ou de p ig n o n s
1 tasse de sem oule 1/4 tasse de sucre-glace M ettre le lait e tle sucre dans une cas serole et porter à ébullition en m é la n geant bien p o u r dissoudre le sucre.
Faire foudre le beurre da n s une cas serole tefale ou inoxydable, ajouter les am andes ou p ig n o n s en m élangeant co n sta m m en t avec une cuillère en bois.
A u fure e t à m esure que la m ixtu re
İrmik helvası
brunit, ajouter la sem o u le tout en tour n a n t ju s q u ’à ce que les am andes e t la sem oule p re n n e n t u ne belle coloration brune.
Retirer la casserole du feu, ajouter le lait bouillant e t couvrir.
Rem ettre la préparation su r fe u très doux, de préférence su r une pla q u e iso lante ju s q u ’à absorbation totale du lait. A ttention à n e pas laisser trop cuire.
Asude Helvası (Halva de la paix)
Recette de Halva provenant du livre de cuisine de 1764 révisé par le fils de Şeyhülislam. Neuf recettes de Halva y sont indiquées parm i les 200 recettes et le “Halva de la paix”, il y est décrit comme léger, délicat et sain.
1 tasse de maïzena
1 tasse de sucre ou de m iel 1/2 tasse de beurre
1 tasse d ’eau de source 1/4 tasse d ’eau de rose. Mettre la maïzena, le sucre ou le miel et l ’eau dans une casserole à fond épais
et m élanger ju sq u ’à ce que le m élange
soit homogène. Ajouter le beurre fondu Asûde helvası
Helva
. Continued from Page 8
disolved. Add the melted butter and stir again.
• Heat the mixture slowly, stirring with a wooden spoon. It quickly becomes a thick paste and will burn if you stop stirring.
• When the butter separates from the paste, the helva is cooked. Add some rose water, stir once or twice and allow to cool, stirring occasionally. Add the rest of the rose water when the mixture becomes crumbly.
• It can be served cold or slightly warm and is good with a dollop of clotted cream.
IRMIK HELVASI (Sem olina Helva) This is still traditonally served at coun try weddings, funerals and other family gatherings and religious festivals known as
mevlut, and sent to neighbours and
relatives.
2 cups o f milk 1 cup o f castor sugar Vi cup o f butter
‘A cup o f skinned almonds or pine kernels
1 cup o f semolina
A cup o f powdered white sugar • Put the milk and castor sugar into a
saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring un til all the sugar has dissolved.
• Melt the butter in a stainless-steel or non-stick saucepan, add the almonds or pine kernels and stir constantly with a wooden spoon. As soon as the colour begins to turn, add the semolina and keep stirring until the semolina becomes golden and the almonds turn a nice brown.
Remove from heat, pour the boiling milk over it and then cover.
Now allow the mixture to simmer over a very low flame, preferably with a mat over the burner, until all the milk is absorbed. Ce careful not to let it boil over.
• Cover and allow to cool for half-an- hour, then stir well with a wooden fork and serve, perhaps pour cream on it and sprinkle with powdered sugar.
HAKANI HELVASI (Im perial Helva) This recipe was recorded in 1473 in the kitchen manuscripts of Topkapi Palace.
3 cups o f milk 2 cups o f sugar 1 cup o f butter 1 cup o f wheatflour 1 cup o f starch 1 cup o f riceflour
• Dissolve the sugar in boiling milk.
• Melt the butter in a deep saucepan and slowly stir in the wheatflour; starch and riceflour with a wooden spoon. Keep stirr
ing under a low flame until the thick paste becomes creamy.
• Remove from the heat and pour boil ing milk over it very carefully.
• Cover and allow to simmer under a very low flame until some of the milk is absorb ed, then set aside covered. When it has cool ed a little, stir thoroughly and beat with the back of the spoon.
• Serve a tablespoonful at a time, keep ing the shape of the spoon. You can fry some skinned almonds in butter and put an almond on top of each.
GAZİLER HELVASI (H eroes’ Helva) Turabi Effendi’s recipe of 1862. A filling helva to revive heroes returning from bat tle. It was also served at helva evenings.
2 cups o f milk 1 cup o f sugar 1 cup o f butter 2 cups o f flour
Some powdered cinnamon and cloves
• Dissolve the sugar in boiling milk. • Melt the butter in a separate saucepan. Stir in the flour over a low heat with a wooden spoon until it becomes equal ly golden, but not brown, then remove from the heat.
• Pour the boiling milk over it, cover and allow to cool. After half-an-hour, stir well with a wooden spoon, serve and sprinkle with freshy scraped cinnamon bark and some crushed cloves.
SABUNİYE HELVASI (S a p o n a c e o u s Helva)
From a manuscript of 1826, discovered in 1917 by Osman Kerim Effendi, a former Ot toman Secretary General.
5 cups o f spring water 1 cup o f starch 3 cups o f sugar l cup o f butter
• Put the starch into a bowl with one
cup of water and stir until smooth. • Prepare a syrup by boiling the sugar in four cups of water for a few minutes, then remove from the heat.
• Add the dissolved starch to the syrup, whisking continuously with a wooden spoon, then return the pan to the heat, turn the flame down to very low and continue stirring. When it becomes thick, add the melted butter a little at a time and keep stir ring for five to 10 minutes. Taste it. When it does not stick to the teeth, it is ready.
• Either serve lukewarm, whisking the helva with a wooden fork, or pour into a flat dish and allow to cool. Cut up into dia mond shapes and sprinkle with rose water.
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