Research Information System
MILLI FOLKLOR, no.122, pp.14-28, 2019 (AHCI)
The coffee whose birthplace is Ethiopia, which is one of the oldest countries on the African continent, was imported from Yemen in Istanbul in the 16th century. The consumption of coffee has spread rapidly throughout the territory and has become an Ottoman culinary and social custom. This custom is one of the elements that has attracted the most attention of Western travelers who have visited Istanbul and Algiers for various diplomatic, religious, military, commercial, literary and scientific reasons. So much so that it is rare to find a travelogue about Istanbul and Algiers where the custom of coffee and coffee shops is not described in French or English. The fact that coffee crossed the borders of the Ottoman Empire at the end of the 17th century to become acquainted with European countries gave rise to the habit of drinking coffee which has become a common cultural heritage shared by Western and Eastern peoples. Although the images of the Istanbul and Algerian cafes in these travel narratives (17th-20th centuries) are very detailed, they are nevertheless stereotypes portrayed by an often orientalist look. In our study, we will try to study through the travel stories written between the years 1560 and 19019 by the French, English, German, Italian and Norwegian travelers the perception of the culinary custom of coffee shared by all social classes of Istanbul and Algiers.