Turkish Coffee (Türk Kahvesi)

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.