Turkish Coffee

Turkish coffee is made by using high quality Arabica beans. The beans are roasted and then ground into a very thin dust-like powder. It is prepared by mixing the ground coffee in water (with or without sugar depending on your preference) in a special pot called cezve and served in small coffee cups similar to espresso cups but with a much thinner rim.

The Turkish coffee is all about testing your patience. The only way to savour it properly is to simmer it over a very low heat over the stove until a thick foam covers the top of the cezve. You then need to wait for the grounds to settle before you can start sipping it, otherwise your mouth will be bombarded with the coffee grounds.

It is traditionally served with a glass of water on the side to ensure that you drink some of the water before you start sipping your coffee. The water cleanses your palate to allow you to better taste the coffee. Also, unlike the Italian espresso, you need to take small sips of the Turkish coffee and let it linger on your taste buds as long as possible.

It is such an important part of our daily routine is that even the Turkish word for breakfast, kahvalti (derived from kahve-alti meaning base for coffee) comes from the word "coffee".

But Turkish coffee is not just a beverage. It is much more than that as the enjoyment does not only come from drinking it but also from finding out what is hiding in the grounds left in the bottom of the cup. It is a messenger, a vessel containing the secrets of our expectations, worries, hopes and happiness. Sometimes you just drink it to find out what the future will bring.

In my grandmother's summer house, as a teenager, I would impatiently wait every morning for our next door neighbour Sevim Teyze (Aunt Sevim) to finish her breakfast and ask me if I wanted Turkish coffee. My face would lit up and I would jump over the fence to join her in her terrace. She would make us both a cup and we would sip our coffees slowly as I updated her on the latest gossip. Once I finished, I would turn down my cup and wait for it to cool down so that she could read my fortune and tell me what was lying ahead. Every now and then she would see a bird, which signifies good news, or a fish, which signifies money, and sometimes a tall dark boy that would put a huge smile on my face for the rest of the day.

Turkish coffee has another major significance in a single girl's life. According to our traditions, when two people decides to get married, the groom's family visits the bride's family to ask for the bride's family's blessing before they get married. At this gathering, the bride prepares and serves Turkish coffee to all the guests. However, instead of sugar, she puts salt into the groom's coffee to test his character. If he drinks the awful tasting coffee tactfully without showing any sign of dislike, that means he is of good nature and he will be a good husband.

I have to say, I did not serve Turkish coffee when my husband's parents came to our house but I am pretty sure after being married to him for over five years, he would have drained down that salty coffee without even a cringe and then praised how tasty it was. I think I chose well, with or without the salty coffee.


Turk Kahvesi (Turkish Coffee)

Ingredients:

1 cezve or a narrow mouthed pot 

1 heaped teaspoon Turkish coffee

1 espresso cup of water

Sugar (optional) 

Here is how:

Measure one cup of water in the espresso cup and pour it into the cezve or your pot. Add the coffee and sugar (if using) and put it over the lowest heat setting possible. Once all the coffee grounds and sugar sink in the water, give it a good stir and simmer it until coffee foam starts to form.

As for the sugar measurements it is easy:

No sugar for sade (no sugar)

1/2 teaspoons for az sekerli (less sweet)

1 teaspoon sugar for orta sekerli (medium sweet)

1 1/2 teaspoon sugar for cok sekerli (very sweet)

The foam will start on the edges and travel to the middle of the pot and your coffee is done when the whole surface of the pot is covered in foam.

Turn off the heat and gently pour the coffee into the cup without disturbing the foam. (If you have multiple serves of coffee in one pot, then divide the foam between the number of cups and then share the coffee to ensure that all cups have foam on top.) 

Serve with a glass of water and wait for the coffee grounds to settle for two minutes before sipping. 

Afiyet olsun!