Ekmek Fırının Ağzında: Kanuni Dönemi İstanbul’unda Fırınlar, Ekmekçiler ve Ekmekler
Bread in the Mouth of the Oven: Bakeries, Bakers and Breads in Istanbul during the Magnificent Period

Summary/Abstract: This article explores the adventure of bread, one of the essential substances of human nutrition, in Istanbul during Suleiman I's reign. It follows the primary sources about the production, supply, grinding, and distribution of wheat, the raw material of bread. In addition, it addresses the situation of the mills and bakeries supplying flour and bread and the quality, weight, and varieties of bread. It focuses on the production of wheat and its transportation to Istanbul, grinding and distribution, difficulties caused by disruptions in the supply-demand balance, and the arrangements of wheat-related procedures. It determines that the bread problem in the capital during the period was primarily concerned with wheat and had a strong relationship with mills. A central finding is that the low wheat yield and the inadequacy of mills grinding qualified flour were the most significant obstacles to adequately supplying the highly populated city. The city's supply, which was at the level of a knife-edge in terms of wheat, caused a severe shortage of bread in 1530. On the other hand, the bread varieties explicitly produced in this period show that the Turks carried some of their Central Asian habits to Istanbul and kept them alive until this period.

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