"Those Ottomans knew how to eat!" Very important rider - the rich or well-off ones did. Peasants, who were the greatest majority, subsisted on a lot of cheap b

"Those Ottomans knew how to eat!" Very important rider - the rich or well-off ones did. Peasants, who were the greatest majority, subsisted on a lot of cheap bread/rice with a very little meat or other protein thrown in, and suffered malnutrition. Source: experience. Take away this one point, that when people talk about the food/cuisine of some country, they're likely talking about what the top few percent ate, which was beyond what the plebs had access to. Not always, but something to consider.