Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Turkish coffee vs Greek coffee

While reading a forum based in London, i came across this thread about using the term Turkish coffee as opposed to Greek Coffee. The post raises some very interesting points:


This has generated a lively debate since I posted it
last week.
I think the winner is Sotirios with his
comment:


“Its Turkish coffee, and Turkish delight or
Lokoumia as we say in Greek which is another variation on the Turkish word
Lokoum (apologies to turkish speakers if spelling is off a bit).
We should
all acknowledge that centuries of living next to or with each other measn that
ideas and customs have been exchanged.“

The fascist Greek Junta tried to change the centuries
old Turkish coffee into Greek coffee in 1974 at the height of the anti-Turkish
hysteria about Cyprus when it issued a decree banning the use of words such as
Turkish coffee and Tourkolimani (Turkish port – name of the main port in
Pireaus).

To insist calling
Turkish coffee Greek coffee is a form of racism.

I congratulate Sotirios and all other contributors who reject this form
of racism.

So whatever nationality cook yourself a nice cup of Turkish
coffee in an 'ibrik' or a 'cezve' and enjoy it with some Turkish delight!


Tourkikos cafes
Caffe Turco
Türkischer kaffee
Café Turc
Türk kahves


Sotirios

London, England

Posted by Turkish Coffee at 9:00 AM

4 comments:

inland empire restaurant and food reviews said...

Thanks, for introducing me to Turkish Coffee!!

August 14, 2008 3:19 PM
Megan said...

Wow, I had no idea! (I'm not much of a history person, and 1974 was before my time...) Do you know where I could find more information on this, especially on how it affected Turkish coffee?

August 22, 2008 12:22 PM
Mediterranean Turkish Cook said...

This is a great blog. Even though Turkish coffee is so good, it's not very popular here in the States. I congratulate you on starting this blog dedicated to Turkish coffee.

February 26, 2009 5:14 PM
Rodopi said...

I am Greek, and while most of us acknowledge that traditions, and recipes have been exchanged in the many years the cultures have shared together, there is no way, that the Greek people will simply start asking for "Turkish Coffee".
In Greece, and in Greek American venues it will continue to be Greek coffee. I think four hundred years of enslavement, have earned us that right.

I'll tell you what though, when I go to a Turkish restaurant, and when I go to Turkey, I will ask for a Turkish coffee :)

July 30, 2009 3:49 AM

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Istanbul - Citywalk - A look at modern Istanbul with music.

Detailed instructions on making Turkish coffee

HOW TO MAKE TURKISH COFFEE

You will need to have a Turkish coffee pot, a spoon, sugar and coffee that has been ground to a fine powder. You can get the Turkish coffee in several different ways:

A. Purchase a Turkish Grinder (regular electric grinders with blades spinning at a high speed will NOT do the job) and grind the coffee yourself. We do have these available at our store if you are interested.

B. Do it at at your local grocery store! Yes, that's right. You may not have noticed but the most grinders (99.9%) at your local grocery store in the U.S. have a Turkish coffee setting! Just select the "Turkish Coffee" when you grind your beans.

C. Buy it ready made. We sell it in our store but you can also find it at most Mediterranean stores if you live in a big city.

Preparation

  1. Measure the amount of cold water you will need.
  2. Place your pot of water on the stove and turn the heat to medium-high (just until the water heats up).
  3. Add about 1-2 heaping tea spoons of coffee per demitasse cup. Do not stir it yet. Just let the coffee "float" on the surface because if you stir it now you will cause it to clump up.
  4. Add sugar to taste. Do not stir it yet, because the water needs to be warm before it can dissolve.
  5. When the coffee starts to sinks into the water and the temperature is warm enough to dissolve your sugar, stir it several times and then turn down the heat to low. You should stir it several times, up until it your brew starts to foam. The more you mix it better it will foam ( you can also vigorously move your spoon side to side to encourage foaming action).
  6. When you see the bubble "ring" forming on the surface, turn down the heat a little bit more or move your pot away from the heat source. Pay attention to the bubbles. Smaller the size the better for the foam.
  7. From this point on watch your coffee carefully. The slower you cook it, the better. Do not let the temperature get hot enough to start boiling. (NEVER LET IT BOIL - many instructions on how to make Turkish coffee use the term "boiling" but this is totally inaccurate) Idea here is to let the coffee build a thick froth and that occurs approximately around 158 F or 70 C (i.e., much cooler than the boiling point of water which is 212 F or 100 C at standard pressure).
  8. Keep it at the "foaming" stage as long as you can without letting it come to a boil. You might even gently stir you brew a little bit at this stage. The more froth, the better it will taste. If it gets too hot and starts to "rise" too much then move it away from the heat or just turn it down. Repeat this process until your foam has "raised" and "cooled" at the most couple of times (not 3-4 times like some instructions. Even once is enough). Then pour in to your cups while making sure that each cup has equal amount of foam! If you are serving several cups then you might be better off spooning the foam into each cup.
Drinking
  1. Turkish coffee is always served with a glass of water. You need to drink the water first to clean out your pallet!
  2. Wait about half a minute or so to let the grinds settle to the bottom .
  3. Find a comfortable spot and enjoy your coffee! Make sure to drink it slowly sip by sip.