by Saygin Ersin
The cook first boiled a few belladonna seeds and had the master drink the concoction. Afterwards, when Master Adem’s mind was lost in peculiar dreams and hallucinations, the cook began to whisper the names of flavors into his ear. Master Adem left this world with thousands of flavors playing upon his mind.
The cook received other news, too.
He heard that Sirrah’s slaves had rebelled and strangled her in her sleep, looted her treasure, and set the House of Pleasure ablaze.
Neyyir Agha found favor with Haseki Sultan and, during her reign, he became a pasha and climbed his way up the ranks to the Imperial Council. Unfortunately, Neyyir Agha did not see his retirement; the day after Haseki Sultan was strangled in the Harem, he lost his head to an executioner.
Privy Chamber Page Firuz Agha became a governor and left the Inner Palace, and after serving in various provinces throughout Rumelia, he became the Governor of Chios, after which he retired. He settled on the island with his wife and children, and lived a happy, peaceful life.
Darıcızade Mahmud Bey met a swift end. The young woman he met and fell in love with at the House of Pleasure, Nihan, “the wrecker of mansions,” lived up to her reputation and within two years the great Darıcızade dynasty was bankrupt. People said that Mahmud Bey couldn’t hang himself because he did not have enough money to buy a rope, so he had put an end to his sorrowful life by jumping off a cliff.
Master Bayram did not remain long in Istanbul either. After having an argument with a few customers, he packed up his stuff, got in his boat, and left. The cook did not hear news of him for a very long time, until one day he was making topik and could not get the consistency right, and he thought of Levon. He asked around and at last got news of the tragic story. Master Bayram had moved to Thessaloniki and opened a restaurant there. One day, two officers who had had a bit too much to drink got into a scuffle, and the knives they pulled ended up being plunged into Levon’s chest as he tried to separate them.
Witnesses described how Master Bayram placed Levon’s lifeless body in his boat and rowed off toward the horizon.
After that day, the fish and mezes never tasted the same again.
The happiest news the cook received was about Mahir.
Mahir had also risen alongside Haseki Sultan and he returned home as a governor. At last he had become “a great man,” and his dear mother became the mother of a bey.
The cook was delighted for him. He felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders.
And so it was …
Some died, some lived, and some left.
The cook spent the rest of his life in happiness and peace, filled with delicious flavors, and he loved Kamer with the same intensity of that very first day. He no longer asked big questions of life, nor did he expect great answers. He put all he had into his art. Seeing as he was born as a Pasha of Cuisine, he decided that he had to do justice to his title. And that is precisely what he did. He never tried to make a name for himself, and he worked to better not just the flavors he created but those created by other cooks as well. He traveled and lent his divine talent to anyone who needed or desired it. Under his enchanted hands, flavors became wondrous, and just like the legend says, the best dishes were made and the greatest cooks were trained in those days. So much so that those familiar with the legend of the Pasha of Cuisine say that the light of the last Pasha of Cuisine still burns and the lands upon which he breathed his last are still renowned for their cuisine, even today.
Who knows?
THE END