Prepararea cafelei turceşti

Cafeaua turcească

Un proverb turcesc descrie cafeaua astfel: „Cafeaua trebuie să fie neagră ca iadul, tare ca moartea şi dulce ca dragostea.”

Cafeaua turcească este de fapt o modalitate specifica de preparare a cafelei, nu o varietate separată. Se foloseşte echipamentul specific, un ibric (ibrik) şi o linguriţă.  Ingredientele sunt: cafea macinată foarte fin, apa rece şi zahăr după gust (zahărul se adaugă în apă înainte de preparare). Se poate adăuga nucşoară pentru aromă.

Cafeaua turcească trebuie să fie macinată pudră. Este cea mai fină variantă de măcinare. Este de preferat o varietate de cafea neagră, cu boabe prăjite proaspăt. Pentru fiecare ceaşcă, se folosesc una sau doua linguriţe cu vârf.

Se adaugă cafeaua şi zahărul în apa şi se amestecă bine până la dizolvarea zahărului şi scufundarea cafelei. Spuma cafelei turceşti trebuie să fie groasă şi omogenă, făra particule observabile. Când începe să fiarbă, se înlatură ibricul de pe foc şi se toarnă în ceşti. Se serveşte în ceşti mici.

Toată cafeaua din ibric se toarnă în ceşti, dar nu se bea toată, se lasă zaţul gros.  Mai apoi, ceaşca se pune pe farfuriuţă rasturnată şi se ghiceşte astfel în cafea.

Cafeaua se bea încet alături de un pahar de apă, sau lichior de mentă după cină. Nu se adaugă niciodată frişcă sau lapte.

Şi o demonstraţie

Turkish coffee is the coffee which needs special preparation and simmering method that was invented by Turks. It has special taste, foam, smell, simmering, serving and specific identity, tradition.

At the beginning this drink had been cooking by using fruit of coffee in Arabian Peninsula. By means of this new special preparation method coffee gained its real flavor and unique aroma. After that Europe met coffee through the Turks for the first time and they had prepared and consumed coffee by this method over many years. It is one of the most widely drunk coffee in all over the world with espresso.  It can be found almost all menus of different kinds of restaurants.  It has many unique properties such as being the oldest coffee cooking method. Also instead of making coffee from instant coffee it is cooked. İt consists of coffee its foam and coffee grounds at the bottom of the cup. Its taste lasts for a long time due to its special foam. And by means of this foam it coffee keeps it temperature. It is softer and it has much more consistency and aroma than other types. Since its ground settle in the cup, filtering is not needed. Sugar is added during the preparation. It is healthier than other types since its ground is not drunk and inflation problems is not faced due to its small portion.
Turkish coffee Brazil and North America originated is blended with high quality coffee, roasted in coal fire(preferably) slowly and fine grinding. After this long journey Turkish coffee comes up in our kitchens and ready to cooking.

Cooking method of Turkish coffee cooking is a ceremony in its own right. It is serviced in its original little cups. Water, coffee and sugar are the basic ingredients of Turkish coffee as is accustomed. It is drunk in three different ways. No sugar (sade), medium sugar (orta şekerli) and with sugar (şekerli). You can select one of them up to your taste. First putting water by addition of one cup of water to special Turkish coffee pot for each service then two teaspoons of coffee is added for one cup of coffee. Amount of sugar is up to you. To prepare medium sugar coffee one teaspoon of sugar is enough. After addition of all ingredients to coffee pot put it on stove to simmer and start to stirring with a spoon. The important point of preparation is to cook coffee slowly and patiently. When the coffee pot starts to heating up, a layer of Turkish Coffee Foam in the coffee pot occurs. After this foam starts forming and just before boiling point, take the coffee pot off the stove, and use a spoon to take this foam from the pot into the coffee cups. Share this foam to cups equally. Then put the coffee pot back on the stove, and wait till it boils and pour it into its special cups. Serving with a glass of water and a piece of delicious Turkish delight is a tradition.
It has also a different drinking section than other coffees. Drinking water before coffee to diminish other remaining taste in the mouth. Usually a nice talk accompanies this ceremony and after drinking coffee reverse the cup and put it to its sauce, wait until it becomes cold and telling fortune according to shapes that occurs on the surface of the cup is another part of this ceremony.

From grinding to drinking Turkish coffee is a very special drink and it affects Turkish society deeply. It has took place in many traditional events such as taking a bride ceremony, celebration of feasts since Ottoman Empire. You should definitely try and buy some with its special coffee pot and cups when you visit Turkey.