Etiquette of the Sultan’s Punch

Neither the Sultan nor any of the officials present had a drop of wine. None was on the table, nor was any handed round except to unbelievers. The claret, however, was so good that my husband could not resist asking the Grand Master of Ceremonies, ‘Who tasted and chose the wine for the Imperial table?’…” — Image source of a beautiful Art Nouveau claret jug, Twitter

In Max Muller’s honor the Sultan gave him a dinner. Of course,  Max Muller was not invited, but the lady, in her ‘‘Letters From Constantinople,” describes it, and the little incident how the Sultan drew the line between wine and punch is amusing: “Nobody spoke except the Sultan, whose conversation with the ambassador was most animated, though carried on entirely by an interpreter. My husband, not knowing the Turkish etiquette, began to talk French to his neighbor, but received such very short answers that he, too, relapsed into silence. The Sultan, who had evidently seen this, beckoned to Munir Pasha, who whispered something to the ministers of war and marine and began to talk very pleasantly, encouraged by a look from the Sultan not to mind such a breach of etiquette. 

“Neither the Sultan nor any of the officials present had a drop of wine. None was on the table, nor was any handed round except to unbelievers. The claret, however, was so good that my husband could not resist asking the Grand Master of Ceremonies, ‘Who tasted and chose the wine for the Imperial table?’ He shrugged his shoulders, as though he would say, ‘You can guess. ’ One of the items of the menu was punch. It was iced punch, smelling so strongly that everyone could perceive the alcohol in it, but neither the Sultan nor any of his guests were afraid of it. It was called punch, and punch is not forbidden in the Koran.” — San Diego Union and Daily Bee, 1897

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