On History of Food and Food Studies: An Interview with Priscilla Mary Işın

Abstract

Priscilla Mary Işın is one of the foremost historians of Ottoman and Turkish culinary history, a field to which she has devoted more than four decades. After studying philosophy at the University of York, she moved to Turkey in 1973 and began exploring the history of food and cuisine through sources ranging from historical texts to everyday practices. Her work approaches cuisine as a historical phenomenon shaped by production, trade, dining customs, social relations, and cultural memory. Through extensive archival research, Işın has revealed the richness and influence of Ottoman and Turkish culinary traditions within global food history scholarship, a field long dominated by Western-centered perspectives. Her major works include Sherbet and Spice: The Complete Story of Turkish Sweets and Desserts (Gülbeşeker: Türk Tatlıları Tarihi, 2008), From Hunting to Haute Cuisine: A Cultural History of Food (Avcılıktan Gurmeliğe: Yemeğin Kültürel Tarihi, 2018), A Dictionary of Ottoman Cuisine (Osmanlı Mutfak Sözlüğü, 2023), Bountiful Empire: A History of Ottoman Cuisine (Bereketli İmparatorluk: Osmanlı Mutfağı Tarihi, 2024), and, co-authored with Burak Onaran, The Forty Layers of Baklava: From Palace to Bazaar, from Gaziantep to Istanbul (Saraydan Çarşıya, Gaziantep’ten İstanbul’a Kırk Kat Baklava Tarihi, 2024). The interview ranges from Işın’s path into food history and her research methods to the social and diplomatic meanings of Ottoman dining culture and the recovery of forgotten flavours. It also offers valuable reflections on safeguarding Turkey’s rich culinary heritage while pointing to new avenues of inquiry for scholars of food studies.