Turkish coffee has a big place in Turkish culture. The coffee has a strong taste and there are lots of lovers. Turkish people usually prefers to have coffee after dinner especially if there are guests at home. Unlike other cultures, during breakfast, we prefer to have Turkish tea, instead of coffee. On the weekends, after the breakfast, while you are reading the newspaper, having Turkish coffee is a perfect decision. Coffee has affected Turkish culture so much that the Turkish word for breakfast, kahvaltı literally means "before coffee" (kahve 'coffee' altı 'before').
Also there are many interesting stories related to coffee. I will tell one of the most interesting one here. In Turkey, coffee is traditionally served to the groom's family by 'bride to be' during the first meeting of both parents (groom's and bride's). During the meeting, groom's parent is asking approval from bride's parent for the marriage of the young couple (which is a kind of formality). While they are talking, 'bride to be' serves Turkish coffee to the guests. The coffee should be well-made (which means it has perfect proportions of sugar/coffee/water and with thick foam (kopuk)) and well served (which means it is served without any spills and with a smiling face). In a way, it shows how skillful and nice the bride is. Usually, the last person that gets the coffee from bride is the groom. This is not a 'coincidence'. This is 'intentional'. Because the last coffee is special. Special for 'groom to be'. Usually the last coffee has other things in it which were not supposed to be there such as black pepper, salt, red pepper etc. ;)) Groom should be drinking it all without showing his discomfort ;) That means he will love the bride whether she is sweet or not (in a good day or a bad day). That is a small joke between bride and groom. You can imagine that the bride will be watching the groom secretly, after serving the coffee. It is a big laugh for bride to see groom's face after him tasting the
coffee.
"A cup of coffee commits one to forty years of friendship."an Old Turkish Proverb
How to make Turkish Coffee
The necessary equipment to prepare Turkish coffee (Turk kahvesi) consists of a narrow-topped small boiling pot called an ibrik (basically a tiny ewer), or cezve, teaspoon and a heating apparatus. The ingredients are finely ground Turkish coffee, sugar and water.
There are different ways of making a Turkish Coffee. Here is how I usually make it:
- Add water to cezve (I measure the water using the coffee cups (fincan). If I am preparing a coffee for 3 people, I am adding 3 coffee cups of water to the cezve)
- Add sugar to cezve and stir it (The amount of sugar depends on how sweet you want your coffee to be. I like it medium to sweet. So I would add 2-3 teaspoons of sugar (for 3 people). Sometimes I add 1 small piece milk chocolate or dark chocolate)
- Start heating the cezve and add finely ground Turkish coffee (The amount of coffee is about 1 teaspoon per coffee cup. But the teaspoon should be over-filled)
- Cook the coffee while stirring it occasionally up to boiling point. (do not boil it yet)
- The foam that are created on top of the cezve should be carefully transferred to the coffee cups(fincan) by teaspoon. (you are making sure that your coffee will be with lots of foam.
- Boil the rest of the coffee briefly and add coffee to fincans. (since there are already foams inside the fincans, once you add hot coffee inside the fincan, the foams will be swimming on top of the fincan which is great!)
- You can serve it with a piece of chocolate or Turkish delight (lokum) next to it.
Afiyet Olsun.. Bon Apetite!
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