From: stephensmith@usa.pipeline.com(Stef)

Subject: Re: Turkish Coffee

Date: 13 Dec 1995 05:15:01 GMT

Message-ID: <4alngl$rqi@news1.usa.pipeline.com>

On Dec 13, 1995 18:45:01 in article <Turkish Coffee>, 'Chuah Soon Soon

<soonsoon@tp.ac.sg>' wrote:

>I travelled to Turkey last week and fell in love with Turkish coffee. I

>love coffee but not a coffee expert. any suggestion as to how can i make

>a good turkish coffee or anything about turkish coffee at all.

>

I've never been to Turkey but I assume you are talking about the Middle

Eastern style coffee that is often served here in the U.S. in Greek and

Lebanese restaurants. I love it too. Here is how I make it.

You could probably brew it in a regular saucepan or other stove-top pot.

But for real authenticity, you should get yourself one of those

sort-of-hourglass-shaped brass pots called an "ibrik" (Turkish) or "briki"

(Greek). -- SEE THE POSTS IN THIS NEWSGROUP WITH THE SUBJECT LINE,

"IBRIK." -- Ibriks come in a variety of sizes, indicated by a number

stamped on their handles. I have a #8 size, which is more or less a medium

size, and find it is suitable for making up to 5 demitasse cups of coffee

at a time.

You also need Middle Eastern style coffee. This is simply coffee (usually

a dark roast) that has been ground so fine that it is like powder. It must

be this fine because in this method of coffee making, you actually drink

the grounds, and you want them to be as well-dissolved in the water as

possible. With a very good grinder, you could possibly grind your own

beans fine enough. But I recommend you find a specialty market that sells

it ready-ground. When you find a place that sells ibriks, you will

probably find Middle Eastern coffee for sale, and vice versa.

Start by measuring two teaspoons of the powdered coffee per demitasse into

the ibrik. Add a teaspoon of sugar for every teaspoon of coffee if you

want it "sweet." For "heavy sweet," make that a teaspoon-and-a-half of

sugar per teaspoon of coffee. For "light sweet" use a half teaspoon of

sugar per teaspoon of coffee, and for plain coffee (termed "sketo" in

Greek), add no sugar. (I like mine "light sweet" but have drunk and

enjoyed it all ways.)

Next measure your water into the ibrik -- two demitasse-fulls if you want

two demitasses of coffee, three demitasse-fulls if you want three

demitasses of coffee, etc. Never fill the ibrik to more than one-half its

capacity, because you need the upper half to accommodate the foam which

will boil up as you're brewing.

Stir to dissove the coffee and sugar in the water. Turn on the heat under

the ibrik, medium to high. After awhile the coffee will begin to gently

boil. Let it. Eventually the foam will begin to climb up the narrow part

of the ibrik. When it fills the flare at the top of the pot and is at the

point of boiling over, turn off the heat. Immediately pour into your cups.

I have read that authentic Middle Eastern coffee should have a thin head of

brown foam completely covering the coffee after you've poured it. (This

head is called the "kamaiki" in Greek.) If you are careful in pouring the

coffee from the ibrik into the cups, it is possible to retain some of the

foam, which you can then use to "top off" each cup. Possible, but

difficult -- so I say don't worry about it unless you're with a Middle

Easterner who stands on tradition. Supposedly in certain countries it is

considered an insult to the guest and a disgrace to the host to serve

coffee without the kamaiki!

A popular spice to add to Middle Eastern coffee is cardamom. Cardamom

seeds should be ground as fine as the coffee, then put in with the coffee

and sugar before you start brewing. A pinch of ground cardamom is usually

about right. I have some Middle Eastern coffee which I bought with the

cardamom already added, by the way.

Making Turkish-Greek-Middle Eastern coffee is actually pretty easy (if you

don't worry about the kamaiki thing). Hope this gets you started.

Enjoy!

-- Stef

=====================================================

H A R R Y B R O W N E for P R E S I D E N T

Read "Why Government Doesn't Work" by Harry Browne, now in bookstores

everywhere. May be the 1990s' most important book.

=====================================================

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From: alper@Csli.Stanford.EDU (Ted Alper)

Newsgroups: rec.food.drink.coffee

Subject: Microwave Turkish Coffee

Date: 12 Oct 1994 17:17:00 -0700

Organization: Stanford University

Lines: 29

Distribution: su

Message-ID: <37hu9s$pdp@Csli.Stanford.EDU>

NNTP-Posting-Host: csli.stanford.edu

I've been experimenting at work with a minimalist Turkish Coffee

recipe and I'd be interested to hear if there's a better way to do it.

We have only a microwave, so I can't use my ibrik, but I've made do

with a large ceramic coffee mug. I Plop a few spoonfuls of fine grind

(#1 grind on the Peets grinder) coffee, a half teaspoon of sugar (and

cloves or allspice if I remember to bring them from home), add 12

ounces of water, stir and give it about 2 minutes in the (fairly

powerful) microwave.

It comes out steamy, but not frothing (I'm afraid of having it froth

over and mess up the microwave) and after settling (I'd prefer to pour

it into a serving cup, but I often just drink it straight from the

coffee mug I made it in) it comes out mild and slightly sweet.

I'm happy enough with it, but it isn't as good as the stuff I make at

home on the burner. I'm guessing that this is because I don't let

it get hot enough in the microwave, for fear of it boiling over. It's

also possible that it has something to do with the fact that I don't

pour the coffee off the grounds right away, as I do at home, but

let them sit while it settles. When I drink straight from the mug

in which it was made, the grounds remain in the (now only warm) coffee

for some time.

Does anyone have any suggestions? What's the best microwave-safe

container to use for this purpose?

Ted Alper

alper@csli.stanford.edu