While organizing some folders, I noticed that I had
semi-prepared a post and taken a few pictures of Turkish coffee several years
ago. When I saw that, I decided to spend a few minutes to post the recipe for
Turkish coffee.
If you haven’t tried Turkish coffee, mostly likely you have
heard of it. Turkish coffee is very popular where most Turks enjoy it daily; in
the morning, afternoon and even at night. It’s part of the Turkish life style.
Turkish coffee is always served to guests. Visiting friends and family always
includes Turkish coffee and afterwards, the fortune telling (not with formal
guests). After the coffee is finished there will be a residue in the bottom of
the cup. Covering the cup with a saucer, the coffee residue is spread around
the cup by shaking the cup and turning it over where the saucer is in the
bottom and the mouth of the cup is right on top of it. After waiting for a
short while the coffee cup is removed and the symbols inside the cup are
translated to the person who drank from the cup. It is always fun to listen to
these fortune telling. Some people take it seriously but most do it just for
fun. I remember when I visit Turkey
we would drink our Turkish coffee in the morning and then ask my mom to read
our fortune. She’d say a few sentences and then she would finish and when we
protest, she would say “I know your whole life, what do you want me to tell
you?” In the afternoon, we drink our coffee again and we turn our cups upside down and ask
mom to read our fortune and then she would say, “Honey, I read your fortune
this morning, nothing changed since then”. We would have our laugh with this as
we only did it for fun. Of course there are people who pay money to have their
fortunes read and some who take advantage of these people. In any case, we have
a saying in Turkey
that says “Fala inanma, falsız da kalma”, meaning “Don’t believe in fortune telling, but
don’t stay without it either”.
Personally, I have never been an avid coffee drinker,
however the past six months it has been my best friend. Not the Turkish coffee,
but the American coffee. I have to drink it every morning since I don’t get
enough of sleep because of my beautiful boys. The American coffee is easy to
make so that’s the route I go and it works. In the afternoon, if I am not too
busy at work (I am fortunate enough to be working in a home office for the past
couple of years) I go and make myself a nice cup of Turkish coffee. This really
alerts me and helps me get through the day well accomplished. I just sometimes
get lazy to make the Turkish coffee as you have to attend to it. But I just
bought a container of Turkish coffee from a Turkish store and I plan to enjoy
it in the afternoons when I feel like I need an extra kick to get me running.
Enjoy your coffee.
2 tsp Turkish coffee (available at Mediterranean stores)
1 tsp sugar (optional)
1 Turkish coffee cup of water (approximately 2.5 oz)
Pour the water in a cezve (Turkish coffee pot) and put on
low heat. Add sugar and the Turkish coffee and stir.
Remove from heat when the
foam starts to come up just before boiling. Pour a little of the coffee in the
Turkish coffee cup or spoon the foam into the cup.
Either way, the foam will be
in the bottom of the coffee cup. Put the rest of the coffee back on heat and
remove when it starts to boil. Pour the coffee over the foam in the Turkish
cup.
Enjoy alone or with chocolate.
Note: The sugar in the
coffee is optional. Some people like it şekersiz (bitter), medium (with little
sugar) and şekerli (sweet). I personally like it ‘medium’ and have never liked
‘bitter’ coffee. Şekerli Turkish coffee is also attractive to me. You may
adjust the sugar amount to your taste.
Labels: Drinks
