Some Rituals and Rules in Mevlevi Cuisine
In Mevlevi Lodges, meals were eaten on the floor. During mealtimes, short round wooden tables are set on three-legged chairs in the kitchen (this is called "Somat"), with hides around them. A long piece of cloth was wrapped around the table to serve as a napkin. The spoons were arranged with their handles on the right side and face down, and a pinch of salt was placed in front of everyone. Placing the spoons in this way symbolized that they were praying and thanking. During crowded meals, a table called "Elif-i Somat", made of long leather like the letter “elif”, was set up. In addition, “Canlar” (students), who was responsible for offering water, would prepare the jug and water glasses.
After all the preparations were completed, one of the “Canlar” would invite everyone to dinner by shouting "Huuu, Somata salaaa" loudly in the corridor where the cells were located. Dervishes who came to the dinner invitation would enter by bowing their heads and start eating together when the sheikh arrived. If water was requested during the meal, it would be pointed out to the people responsible for it. The person who distributed water would kiss the glass and give it to anyone who wanted it, and the person who asked would drink the water by kissing the glass. While someone was drinking water, those eating would stop eating and wait for the dervish who drank the water to drink. After the drinker put down the glass of water, the most senior person at the table, starting with the sheikh, would say "May God bless you" and pray, and the meal would begin again.
According to the Mevlevi culinary tradition, the food is taken off the stove after cooking. Kazancı Dede opens the lid of the food coming off the stove and prays like that
“May the table be sweet, give the blessings of God, and be the light of faith to those who eat. The beloved of Hazrat Mevlana, the secret of the Ateşbaz-I Veli, the noble Imam of Ali; Let's say Hu..."
He would say "Hu..." together with the Dervish and the Souls present. Before starting the meal, a pinch of salt placed in front of them was taken with their index fingers, and the meal, which started with soup and was called "lokma", was eaten together, in an order and system, without any conversation, provided that everyone took it from their own front.
During meal changes at the table, the meal would be eaten accompanied by prayers recites by the Sheikh and the chief cook, and after finishing the meal, one would stand up with a pinch of salt, just as the meal was started. Meanwhile, the sheikh says, “We are the Sufis of the Way, we eat from the table of God, Oh my Lord! He recites an Arabic-Persian prayer meaning "Make this bowl and table permanent..." and then recites the Fatiha. In the continuation, the sheikh says, “The name of honor, the blessing of goodness, the blessing of Halilül-Rahman. Alhamdilillah, ash-shukru li-llah. May God give you His blessings, be the light of faith to those who eat, may they be in peace, may there be abundant joys. Let's say "Dem-i Hazret-i Mevlana, Sirr-ı Ateş-baz-ı Veli, Kerem-i Ali, Hu..." prayers are made and everyone says "Hu...!".
While prayers are being said, those at the table place their hands aside with their fingers bent inward, as if they were holding the table. Afterwards, the sheikh would pray by bowing his head (greeting his head) and then he would go to the kitchen in the same way at the door. If the meal was an important meal, the usher would offer coffee. Another table tradition in Mevlevi cuisine is that the person who is full turns his spoon upside down and waits before leaving the table.
When the sound of the spoons faded away, even those who wanted to continue eating with the voice of the second senior at Somat, "Bismillah, thank you", would put their spoons back to their original state, hold their fingers on the edge of the table with both hands, bow their heads forward and wait. “Canlar” (students) would leave everything in their hands and wait on the sidelines, with their arms crossed, their feet together and sealed, their heads bowed to their hearts. Another ritual performed when getting up from the meal is to greet the brethren leaving the table by placing their hand on their heart and greeting the brethren at the other table with their faces turned towards them as they go out the door.
Another thing that is important in Mevlevi cuisine and is done with a certain ritual and requires good manners is cooking lokma. Lokma rice is a pilaf that is cooked on certain days of the week (usually Fridays and sometimes Mondays) using ingredients such as meat, onion, chickpeas, coriander and peanuts. While cooking lokma, the kitchen door would be locked and only Kazancı Dede and the people in the kitchen would be in the kitchen. The ingredients used while cooking lokma are placed according to number by Kazancı Dede. Since everyone in the kitchen must contribute to the meal, everyone adds their share of these ingredients to the lokma and prays until it is cooked.
Meals are prepared and eaten with a Sufi ceremony in Mevlevi dervish lodges, and each meal has a representation and description. For example; in human life, soup represents water, meat and vegetables represent soil, creamy rose pudding symbolizes the love of God, bacon and eggs represent generation, rice and pastry represent fire, chickpeas boiling in a pot represent the patience of a person in trouble, slurry symbolizes the union of the lover and the loved one, egg white and yolk represent the non-mixing of faith and disbelief. In short, Mevlevis attach many symbolic meanings, depictions and religious motifs to the ingredients of the food and the method of cooking it. In this way, they transform food, which is actually a worldly necessity, into a form of worship.
