by Sabahattin TURKOGLU
Most people in the world have heard of Turkish coffee, but far
fewer have ever tasted it. Europe acquired the coffee habit from
the Turks, and adapted it to their own tastes over subsequent
centuries, Then the Turks borrowed percolated and instant coffee,
so that two very different coffee drinking concepts now exist side
by side in Turkey. Traditional Turkish coffee is a culture apart,
with its own methods of preparation and serving.
Although the Turks brought coffee drinking to a fine art, the
beans were known earlier in Arabia, Egypt and India.
The word coffee derives from the Turkish kahve, which in turn
comes from the Arabic kahwa, thought to be based on Kaffa, the
region in Ethiopia where the coffee plant was originally
discovered. In those early day the beans were pounded to a paste
and eaten with bread.
Two different stories attribute the introduction of coffee into
Turkey either to two Syrians named Hukm and Sems in 1555, or to
Ozdemir Pasa, Ottoman governor of Ethiopia during the reign of
Suleyman the Magnificent (1520-1566).
The first coffee house in Istanbul, which was situated in the
district known as Tahtakale behind the Spice Market, was soon
attracting not only enthusiastic customers, but the unwelcome
attention of theologians and clerics, who considered this strange
new substance to be a harmful narcotic. To stem the tide of the
new craze they forbade it on the grounds that consuming substances
made black by roasting was sinful. Ships carrying loads of coffee
are said to have been sunk in Istanbul harbour.
Yet despite all these measures coffee drinking spread like
wildfire, and by the reign of Murat III (1574-1595) there were
over six hundred coffee houses in Istanbul alone.
Coffee houses were generally constructed in the form of pavilions
commanding an attractive view, and most had verandas and sometimes
an ornamental pool in the centre. Low platforms for customers to
sit upon surrounded the interior walls. Water pipes or the long
slender pipes known as cubuk were also provided. Fashionable
Turkish coffee houses served as gentlemen's clubs, whose members
discussed literature and listened to music and as such are
regarded as the forerunners of the Paris cafs.
The wide variety of often beautifully decorated equipment used for
roasting, grinding, preparing and serving Turkish coffee could
fill a museum on their own. The coffee is boiled in long handled
coffee pots known as cevze, which have their own distinctive
shape, as do the tiny coffee cups. In the past Turkish coffee cups
had no handles, and were put in beautiful filigree or jewelled
holders. Even the coffee trays are specially designed for the
purpose, having an arched handle by which the tray is suspended.
Porcelain coffee cups were produced at the iznik or Kutahya
potteries, for the Turkish market. Sets of Turkish coffee cups
were subsequently produced for local European markets and known as
"a la turque" coffee sets. Carved wooden containers for cooling
the roasted coffee beans and others for storing them were once
part of the equipment in every household, as were the decorated
wooden coffee grinders made in Istanbul.
Connoisseurs expected their coffee to be heated slowly over
charcoal embers for 15 to 20 minutes, the copper coffee pot being
frequently taken away from the fire to prevent overheating. One
strict condition still observed is that a layer of froth should
cover the cup. A heaping coffee spoon plus sugar to taste is
allowed for each cup as a general rule today, although in the past
most Turks drank their coffee without any sugar. Instead, it was
customary to eat or drink something sweet either before or after
the coffee, perhaps sweetened fruit juices known as sherbet, fruit
conserves, Turkish delight or other confectionery. Another custom
which has died out today is the addition of some fragrant
substance such as jasmine, ambergris, cloves or coriander.
The entire process of coffee making was ceremonial, from the
roasting to the protocol of serving guests. For centuries coffee
epitomised hospitality and respect for visitors. Even today, when
a boy's family visits the home of a girl to ask for her hand in
marriage, the girl prepares and serves the coffee, as an
indication to her prospective in-laws of her domestic skills.
Reading the coffee grinds is a favourite pastime particularly
amongst women. The empty cup is turned upside down in the saucer,
and left for a while. Then the expert at fortune-telling in the
group examines the patterns formed inside the cup and on the
saucer. This custom still survives in all the countries of the
former Ottoman Empire including Bulgaria, Greece, Egypt, Macedonia
and Bosnia.
So long as it is drunk in moderation, Turkish coffee is not
harmful to the health, but on the contrary, has a calming and
restful effect. There is 50 mg of caffein per cup, and this is
expelled immediately without accumulating in the body, so in this
respect the Turkish coffee cup is ideally proportioned. In larger
quantities Turkish coffee is a stimulant. It also aids in
digestion, and this is a factor in preventing excessive weight
gain.
The flavour and aroma of well prepared Turkish coffee is an
experience not to be missed in the land where coffee was never
cultivated, but first became a specialised endeavour.
SKYLIFE
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