Amasya Municipal Banquet
At the banquet given by the municipality: wedding soup, chicken with potatoes, türlü, su böreği, tulumba, zeytinyağlı imam bayıldı, pilav and quince compote.
Documents and Findings
Legend Against the Record
Documents & Findings
Most of what has been told about Atatürk's table for a century is hearsay, passed from mouth to mouth. This page confronts those legends with the kitchen records of the Presidential Archive. Each row takes a claim, shows what the document says, and reaches a verdict.3
◆ Document Chronology
The principal documents and records of this site on a single line — from the history of the table to the institutional record:
- 1924 Amasya Municipal Banquet — documented menu record.
- 1925 The Fahrettin Altay List — documented dinner menu.
- June 1926 Kitchen purchase record: 20 artichokes at 10 kuruş each.
- 1931–1935 Halit Atay's tenure as Çankaya head cook.
- 1937 The Ankara–Diyarbakır train menu.
- 1 Oct – 8 Nov 1938 Kitchen records of the illness period; eight artichoke entries.
- 2000 Tezcan's paper — 1st International Symposium on Atatürk and Turkish Folk Culture.
- 1 July 2022 WTCA Book Report D18 — 46 items.
- 16 May 2024 The Founding Letter and Decision No. 40 — the week declared as 19–25 May.
- 19–25 May 2024 First Edition — Washington, D.C.
- 8 May 2025 Institutional announcement · 19–25 May 2025 Second Edition — Arlington, Virginia.
◆ Myth–Record Concordance Ledger
| Common Claim | What the Record Says | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| "Atatürk never ate artichoke; he longed for it in his final days but it could not be obtained." | Artichokes were purchased for years per the kitchen ledgers. In June 1926, 20 artichokes were bought at 10 kuruş each (200 kuruş). Even in the records for 1 October to 8 November 1938, as his illness worsened, there are eight artichoke entries; this reflects what the ledger records, not by itself eight separate acts of personal consumption.3 | Records Conflict with the Legend · Personal Consumption Not Conclusively Established |
| "His favourite dish was kuru fasulye; he ate it as a main course every evening." | The records do not show bean purchases in quantities for a nightly main course. Claims that it was his “favourite” or was consumed at a particular meal rest on testimony and secondary accounts; archive purchase frequency does not measure, confirm or refute a personal preference ranking.47 | Supported by Testimony · Ranking Not Measured |
| "A food taster sampled his dishes in advance at the table." | This edition does not present an archive record verifying the employment of a food taster. The claim is traced to a newspaper report said to have been published in Paris on 19 November 1934 and to subsequent job applications; the newspaper title, page and full application-file citations remain to be verified.7 | Not Verified in the Archive · Full Citation Pending |
| "It is known which dishes were cooked at Çankaya each day." | The palace and residence kitchen records examined here mainly concern purchases and staff expenses; this edition does not present a continuous daily list of cooked dishes. Full citation and page verification for the five-day menu account attributed to Gen. Fahrettin Altay is still in progress.7 | Partly Verifiable · Full Citation Pending |
| "The kitchen expenses were met from the state budget." | The documents show that the documented informal kitchen and table expenses were met from Atatürk's personal account. The expenses were recorded with particular care.5 | Refuted |
| "His table was meat-heavy." | Mutton and beef were purchased until late 1926, after which meat purchases fell and fish rose. The records include black caviar, Japanese caviar, tarama and canned seafood.3 | Qualified |
Refuted / Qualified legend corrected by record · Partly True bounded by the record
◆ The Documented Last Meal — 8 November 1938
A published archive-based account for 8 November 1938 provides meal and time information for the final day. Because this edition does not yet display the original ledger’s full archive citation and facsimile, the transcription below is presented as a provisional source record.7
8 November 1938Dolmabahçe Palace
- MorningMilky coffee and milky tea
- 11:05Rice with oats
- NoonMilk
- AfternoonSoup and apple juice
- 18:35A small block of ice
- AfterwardsNo food was taken
Atatürk passed away two days later, on 10 November 1938.
◆ Founding Documents & Reports
The full texts of the core institutional documents cited across this site are presented below as archival copies. Citations must carry the full imprint; the institutional publication source is tmdh.net.
- Decision No. 40 — Declaration of Atatürk Cuisine Week as 19–25 May · File 0001 · 16 May 2024PDF · EnglishPDF · Türkçe
- Founding Letter · M-239202451916-L — the analysis underlying Decision No. 40; sets out the historical rationale for anchoring the week to 19 May · 16 May 2024 · Turkish original, archival copyPDF · Türkçe
- WTCA Book Report · D18 — "Atatürk's Kitchen" Review Report · No. 1071-1453-26-30-2022-D18 · 1 July 2022 · 46 itemsPDF · EnglishPDF · Türkçe
- First Edition Menu · 2024 — "Atatürk's Kitchen" · 19–25 May 2024 · Washington, D.C. · Photos: Scott SchumanPDF
- Second Edition Menu · 2025 — "Atatürk's Kitchen" · 19–25 May 2025 · Arlington, Virginia · Prepared by WTCAPDF