Coffee
Begone, watery brew from Starbucks…Turkish coffee will kick you into the middle of next week. Any cup of coffee that doesn’ tleave a brown sludge in the cup is wimpy. Our guide said that he could “read the grounds” and tell our fortune from the dregs left in the cup. While I might be a bit skeptical about that.
Every sidewalk cafe abounds with the the teeny little china cups of coffee, many times enjoyed with a shisha pipe (no, it’s not hashish, it’s just flavored tobacco).
I’m not a coffee drinker. I just don’t like the stuff. Mark, on the other hand, is a nurse and as such pretty much lives on coffee. He was brave enough to try some. He says that it’s pretty good, but has a serious caffiene kick that even espresso can’t match. Turkish coffee (and I’m not sure why it’s called “turkish” coffee when it seems to be an Arab thing) is made by crushing sugar with the grounds of strong coffee with the back of a spoon and then boiling, according to our guide. However, I found a few other instructions on the web.
Basically, turkish coffee is made in a small pot called an ibrik, which looks like a tiny pot on a stick. For each cup of coffee, add a cup of cold water to the pot and 2 spoonfulls of coffee grounds (note that for proper coffee, it must be ground very, very fine. Regular grind won’t work, it has to be almost powdery.) Add sugar to the mixture to taste (start with 2) and stir it together. Some suggest 1 tsp coffee, 1 tsp sugar, and 2 oz water as a good ratio. Then, heat it to a boil and simmer until the top is foamy. When it threatens to foam over, pour only the foamy part into the cup and repeat until you have reduced the whole thing to foam in the cups. Let it settle and drink.
it should be served in small cups — this stuff has a kick. Three ways to order Turkish coffee:
- not sweet (sada)
- sweet (mazbut)
- really sweet (ziada)
You really don’t want to try this stuff without sugar.