Its more than just coffee, its "The Turkish Coffee"

In today's crowded, loud, fast and almost virtual lives of ours, some of us drink coffee, some of us drink tea to keep up with this crazy pace. I must admit that I am more of a coffee drinker rather than tea, and I always looked at it like being a dog or cat type person. The bitter capitalist perception didn't lose any time to come up with multibillion dollar chains of coffee shops chains like Starbucks, Cafe Nero, and Gloria Jean's to satisfy people's unsatisfiable, capricious and endless requests of their customers. I always found it very funny to watch people when ordering their coffee at the counter of Starbucks: "-One decaf cappuccino, with skimmed milk foam, no syrup, but extra cacao and with a touch of cinnamon" Yes you re right, for a guy like me who loves to keep things simple in Life, Love and Food, such complexity gives me the creeps.

However, Turkish coffee is probably one the oldest known type of coffee and cooking technique  in the world. Although the name refers "Turkish", coffee beans are not grown in Turkey, its just the way its cooked and grinded and it goes back to 14th century. Today, I am not going to get into details in its cooking techniques, the way its served, or where it came from. My purpose of writing this article is to give you another perspective at Turkish Coffee and its ritualistic culture.

Let me take you back in time....back to 1700s. Pretend that you are an important person and got invited into the palace. Upon your arrival, you are welcomed by the butler and offered Turkish Delight in Gulbahar

Turkish delights in Gulbahar 

This is symbolising an old Turkish proverb which can be translated as; "Lets eat sweet, and talk sweet" implying to have a nice conversation during your stay. It is also believed that, having a Turkish Delight would increase your blood sugar, easing your excitement before your acceptance by the Sultan. Then arrives the Palace's CoffeeMaster (Kahvecibasi -Tur.) along with three concubines from Harem to serve your coffee, without looking directly to your eyes. Talking about being picky and capricious in Starbucks in today's world? Think again....

When I was a kid, my mother had frequent morning coffee gatherings with her friends. They would talk, and laugh for hours. Back then, I never understood it, but now, I realize how important of a role which Turkish Coffee plays in our lives. After an excellent meal, a difficult day, during business meetings, pre-marriage family introductions, before the final examinations at college, and in many different occasions, Turkish Coffee contributes to our lives; quietly but sacredly for centuries.

Hope to have my Turkish Coffee at a Starbucks in NewYork sometimes. Is it too much to ask? That is my caprice

For further reading on Turkish Coffee, here are some of the links I recommend:

Wikipedia

Mehmet Efendi Turkish Coffee Producer

How to cook perfect Turkish Coffee (YouTube Video)

Semolina Halwa - A Divine Ottoman Imperial Culinary Art of Dessert

After getting some good reach to my yesterday's Bonito recipe, I have decided to share another very authentic recipe which has been in Turkish kitchen since the Ottomans. Its called, Semolina (Irmik) Halwa. It is a wonderful dessert after having a nice fish plate, very simple but can be a tricky one to cook. I don't like to confuse you with all the metric, inch, pound and kilogram stuff, so all I use is a small drinking glass, after all if you like math, then go build a space shuttle. Don't forget, if you want to be happy, keep your three things simple: Your life, your love and your food.

Ingredients

OK, enough with the philosophy, and let's get started. Here is the list of ingredients:

- Deep sauce pan (or even a stew pot would do)
- Glass of semolina
- Half a glass of crystallized sugar (or if you like it sweeter, add more genius)
- Two glasses of full fat milk.
- Some hazelnuts
- Dry black current (*)
- Two - three table spoons of butter.

(*)

Dried black current

Natural black current

Ingredients: As simple as it gets

Let's get started

So, are you ready to rumble? Here we go....take your pan and heat it up with medium fire on your stove, and add your butter to let it melt slowly. Try not to burn the oil, just let it melt and sizzle a little bit.

I used a saucepan but a stew pan would be easier to handle stirring

Let your butter melt slowly....do not burn it !

Did the butter melt already and start sizzling? Then it means we are going well...now fill you glass with your semolina, and pour it into your pan. Do the same with the sugar -depending on how sweet you like it- then add your hazelnuts (handful) with the black current.

Semolina

Regular sugar, nothing fancy ! 

Everything into the pan, let's get heated up :)

Well done...now we are going to have some stirring to do about 7 -15 minutes until your semolina get nicely golden brown. Be very careful not to let them get burned. We want them to be golden brown, not black. So do not heat your stove at its full rather, keep it in the medium and start stirring. This is the most boring part but very crucial. Meanwhile, pour two glasses of milk into a cup, and start slowly heating it up. Don't forget, we don't want to mix hots with colds, so heat the milk up until its boiling point. While its heating up, keep on stirring your main mix in the pan.

Milk heating up 

Jing and Jang : Never mix Hots with Colds

It is almost cooking a rice pilaf isn't it? Well the idea is almost the same, and instead of water and boullion, we use milk. Right now, your mixture with hazelnuts must become nice and golden, where the milk has started to boil bubbly. Here is the best part....while stirring you main mixture, VERY SLOWLY start pouring your pot of boiling milk into your sauce pan.

Milk into the pan, starts boiling, and sizzling

Watch your hands because we are now mixing hot with hot, and you don't wanna burn yourself. With the help of you wooden spoon, continue to stir it rapidly. Now, we want to evaporate the milk, and semolina to suck all the milk into them so they can get softer. At this point, you may be disappointed with the goulash looking scene in your pan, but don't worry. It is just going to get better, as you keep on stirring.

Good mix of ingredients.

Reaching the Nirvana

Do not forget, stirring is crucial....now that the water in milk has evaporated, and the semolina has sucked all the buttery milk, you have another 10 to 15 minutes of stirring until it starts getting clingy, and finally you are almost there. Everything in your pan must be clinged and glazed with the sugar. Keep everything together you are almost done. Take it into a plate, add some cinnamon on it, and you may serve it warm or at room temperature. A ball of vanilla ice cream next to it, would give you a top-notch look and of course a breathtaking taste.

After having a Bonito, green salad and a glass of Raki yesterday, so now, I wanted you to finish it off with a Imperial Taste from Ottoman Era "Semolina Halwa". 

Afiyet olsun ** 

(** - Enjoy it -in Turkish)