Turkish coffee

A cup of Turkish coffee served at an Istanbul terrace.

Turkish coffee (see name and variants for other names) is coffee prepared by boiling finely powdered roast coffee beans in a pot (cezve), possibly with sugar, and serving it into a cup, where the dregs settle. The name describes the method of preparation, not the raw material; there is no special Turkish variety of the coffee bean. It is common throughout the Middle East, North Africa, Caucasus, and the Balkans, and in their expatriate communities and restaurants in the rest of the world.

Coffeehouse culture was highly developed in the former Ottoman world, and this is the dominant style of preparation.

History

Coffee has its origins in Ethiopia and Yemen. By the late 15th and early 16th century, it had spread to Cairo and Mecca.^[1][2]

The Ottoman chronicler İbrahim Peçevi reports the opening of the first coffeehouse in Istanbul:

Various legends involving its introduction at a "Kiva Han" in 1475 are reported on web sites, but with no documentation.^[4]

Coffee has affected Turkish culture so much that the Turkish word for breakfast, kahvaltı literally means "before coffee" (kahve means "coffee" and altı "under"). In recent times, Turkish coffee has become less popular than tea (which was grown locally, and could be bought without hard currency), instant coffee, and other modern styles of coffee. At the same time, it is served by international coffee chains such as Starbucks and Gloria Jean's Coffees in their stores located in Turkey, although it remains as an option, not a promoted beverage.

Name and variants

In the Middle East, Turkish coffee until recently has been called simply 'coffee' in the local language.

In Turkey "kahve" was assumed to be Turkish coffee until instant coffee was introduced in the 1980s. Today, younger generations refer to it as Türk kahvesi (Turkish coffee).

The word for "coffeeshop" in Modern Standard Arabic is مقهى (maqha, literally meaning "place of coffee-ing", plural , مقاهي maqahi(n)), but the more common term in colloquial Arabic is simply قهوة (qahwa), meaning "coffee" in much the same way as French uses café for both things.

In many languages, the term "Turkish" coffee has been replaced by the local variant name. For example in "Armenian Coffee" (Հայկական սուրճ haykakan surj), "Greek coffee" (ελληνικός καφές ellinikós kafés), and "Cypriot coffee" (κυπριακός καφές kypriakós kafés), or dropped altogether.^{[citation needed]}. The words for "coffee" and "coffeeshop" remained unchanged in Greek as in the other Balkan languages, using the Ottoman Turkish forms kahve and kahvehane: Bulgarian кафе, кафене; Macedonian кафе, Serbian кафа, кафана; Croatian kava, kavana; Bosnian kahva, kafana; Slovenian kava, kavarna; Romanian cafea, cafenea; Greek καφές, καφενείο; Albanian kafe, kafene.

Arab World

In the Arab world, "Turkish" coffee is the most common kind of coffee. It is called Arabic coffee (qahwa `arabiyah, قهوة ﻋﺮﺑﻴﺔ ) or Shāmi (Levantine) coffee, as the Turks learned this method of making coffee from the Arabs of the Bilad al-Sham. Western forms are also known and are often called "Nescafé" through brand genericization^{[citation needed]}. Only occasionally will Arabs refer to Turkish coffee as being from their native country, so constructions such as "Egyptian coffee," "Lebanese coffee," "Iraqi coffee," and the like are heard to draw a distinction in the flavor, preparation, or presentation of two different kinds of Turkish coffee; for instance, an Egyptian using the term qahwa Arabiyy as distinct from qahwa Masriy would be distinguishing the Levantine from the Egyptian style of Turkish coffee.

Armenia

In Armenia, Turkish coffee is called Սուրճ (sourj 'coffee') or Հայկական Սուրճ (haykakan sourj 'Armenian Coffee'). It is either served regular (sovorakan/normal), sweet (kaghtsr) or without sugar (daruh).

Bosnia-Herzegovina

In Bosnia-Herzegovina Turkish coffee is also called Bosnian coffee, which is made slighly differently than its Turkish predecessor. It is usually made with Bosnian coffee brands (including Zlatna Dzezva, Minas, and Saraj Kafa). Coffee drinking in Bosnia is a traditional daily custom and plays an important role in society, especially during social gatherings.

Croatia

In Croatia, it is called turska kava, i.e. "Turkish coffee". Otherwise, it is known as simply kava, unless when referred to in cafes, in order to avoid confusion with other types of coffee drinks.

Albania

In Albania this is known as Turkish coffee ( Kafe Turke ) and it is a very popular drink even though lately it has lost some of its appeal on the young who prefer Italian style espressos. This coffee constitutes an essential element of the Albanian social scene.

Greece and Cyprus

In Greece and Cyprus, this change was introduced by the coffee industry after the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus.

Israel

In Hebrew it is called kafe turki (קפה טורקי) which simply means "Turkish coffee" whereas coffee made by pouring boiling water over the same ground beans (without cooking) is known as (kafe) botz (קפה בוץ), i.e. "mud coffee".

Skopje

In the Skopje, this type of coffee is also marketed as "Greek coffee" along with the more common name "Turkish coffee" (Турско кафе). From the days of the Ottoman Empire through to the present, coffee has played an important role in Skopje lifestyle and culture. The serving and consumption of coffee has had a profound effect on betrothal and gender customs, political and social interaction, prayer, and hospitality customs. Although many of the rituals are not prevalent in today's society, coffee has remained an integral part of Skopje culture.

Serbia

In Serbian communities, it may be called simply домаћа кафа 'domestic coffee' or кафа 'coffee'. Especially strong coffee (without sugar and milk) is often referred to as 'Turkish' or 'black' coffee.

Slovenia

In Slovenia it is called simply kava (regionally kôva, kavca, kofè, kofé, kofi, kafe, kafjéè, kafa, kufé, kufjè) 'coffee', unless when referred to in cafes, in order to avoid confusion with other types of coffee drinks. Especially strong coffee (without sugar and milk) is often referred to as črna kava 'black coffee'.

Equipment

Turkish coffee is normally prepared using a narrow-topped small boiling pot called an kanaka, cezve, džezva, xhezve or μπρίκι (bríki) (basically a tiny ewer), a teaspoon and a heating apparatus. The ingredients are finely ground coffee, sometimes cardamom, cold water and (if desired) sugar. It is served in a demitasse (fincan, fildžan,filxhan or φλιτζάνι (flidzáni)). Some modern cups do have handles; traditional cups did not, and coffee was drunk either by handling the cup with the fingertips or, more often, by placing the cup in a zarf, a metal container with a handle.

Traditionally, the pot is made of copper and has a wooden handle, although other metals such as aluminium with a non-stick coating are also used. The size of the pot is chosen to be close to the total volume of the cups to be prepared, since using too large a pot causes much of the foam to stick to the inside of it. The teaspoon is used both for stirring and measuring the amount of coffee and sugar. The teaspoons in some other countries are much larger than the teaspoons in countries where Turkish coffee is common: The dipping parts of the teaspoons in these countries are about 1 cm (0 in) long and 0.5 cm (0 in) wide.

A moderately low heat is used so that the coffee does not come to the boil too quickly—the beans need to be in hot water for long enough to extract the flavour. In a modern setting normal gas or electric heating is satisfactory. Traditional heating sources include the embers of a fire, or a tray about 10 cm (4 in) deep filled with sand. The tray is placed on the burner. When the sand is hot, the coffee pot is placed in the sand.^{[citation needed]} This allows a more even and gentle heat transfer than direct heat.

Preparation

Preparation of Turkish coffee

There is no special kind of coffee bean; Turkish coffee is a method of preparation, not a kind of coffee. Beans for Turkish coffee are ground or pounded to the finest possible powder, finer than for any other way of preparation. The grinding is done either by pounding in a mortar (the original method) or using a burr mill. Most domestic coffee mills are unable to grind finely enough; traditional Turkish hand grinders are an exception.

The best Turkish coffee (or any kind of coffee) is made from freshly roasted beans ground just before brewing, but Turkish-ground coffee can be bought and stored as any other type, losing flavour with time.

While there are variations in detail, preparation of Turkish coffee, like all types of coffee, essentially consists of immersing the coffee grounds in water which is most of the time hot but not boiling for long enough to dissolve the flavoursome compounds. While prolonged boiling of coffee gives it an unpleasant "cooked" or "burnt" taste, very brief boiling does not, and bringing it to the boil shows without guesswork that it has reached the appropriate temperature.

The amount of cold water necessary can be measured using the cups. The coffee and the sugar are usually added to water, rather than being put into the pot first, although this is not essential—an article in Scientific American for November 1977 found that there were advantages to putting the coffee in first, then covering it with sugar and adding water without stirring. For each cup, between one and two heaped teaspoons of coffee are used. In Turkey, four degrees of sweetness are used. The Turkish terms and approximate amounts are as follows: sade (plain; no sugar), az şekerli (little sugar; half a level teaspoon of sugar), orta şekerli (medium sugar; one level teaspoon), and çok şekerli (a lot of sugar; one and a half or two level teaspoons). In the Arab World "sāda" (سادة plain; no sugar, meaning "black" in Arabic) or "murra" ( مرة bitter; no sugar) is common. The coffee and the desired amount of sugar are stirred until all coffee sinks and the sugar is dissolved. Following this, the spoon is removed and the pot is put on moderate heat; if too high, the coffee comes to the boil too quickly, without time to extract the flavour. No stirring is done beyond this point, as it would dissolve the foam. Just as the coffee comes to the boil the pot is removed from the heat. It is usually kept off the heat for a short time, then brought to the boil a second and a third time, then the coffee is poured into the cups. Getting the thickest possible layer of foam is considered the peak of the coffee maker's art. One way to maximise this is to pour slowly and try to lift the pot higher and higher as the pouring continues. Regardless of these techniques, getting the same amount of foam into all cups is hard to achieve, and the cup with the most foam is considered the best of the lot.

Utensils to prepare Turkish coffee (handmade from Crete)

A well-prepared Turkish coffee has a thick foam at the top (köpük in Turkish), is homogeneous, and does not contain noticeable particles in the foam or the liquid. It is possible to wait an additional twenty seconds past boiling to extract a little more flavour, but the foam is completely lost. To overcome this, foam can be removed and put into cups earlier and the rest can be left to boil. In this case special attention must be paid to transfer only the foam and not the suspended particles.

There are other schools of preparing Turkish coffee that vary from the above. Lebanese coffee starts with hot water alone, to which sugar is added and dissolved. The product is in essence a sugar syrup with a higher boiling point than water. The coffee, and cardamom if wanted, are added, and the mixture is stirred. It is then brought to a boil two or three times; the double (or triple) boiling is an essential part of the process, both ceremonially and—as connoisseurs claim—for the palate. It has the effect of subjecting the coffee grounds to hot (but not boiling) water for longer, extracting more flavour without imparting the "cooked" taste of over-boiled coffee.

In the Balkans, dominant practice is to fill the džezva with only cold water, and heat it till it boils. As the water boils coffee is added, stirred, and removed from the fire before the foam boils over. After the foam settles the pot is placed back onto the heat source so the water would boil again, releasing more caffeine and flavour. Sometimes the last step is skipped, to preserve the foam. This type of preparation is known as Bosnian coffee or Serbian coffee.

Drinking

Turkish coffee served with chocolate sticks.

Turkish coffee is taken at extremely hot temperatures and is usually served with a glass of cold water to freshen the mouth to better taste the coffee. It is traditionally served with Turkish delight. In the Mediterranean and southeastern Turkey, pistachio grains (kakuli/menengiç) may be added into the coffee. All of the coffee in the pot is poured into cups, but not all of it is drunk. The thick layer of sludgy grounds at the bottom of the cup is left behind.

Fortune-telling

The grounds left after drinking Turkish coffee can also be used for fortune-telling. The cup is commonly turned over into the saucer to cool, and then the patterns of the coffee grounds can be used for a kind of fortune telling called tasseography (Turkish: kahve falı, Greek: καφεμαντεία, kafemanteia), or tasseomancy.

Notes

External links

• Turkish Coffee - A Historical Background
• Turkish Coffee Articles about its History & Culture

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