Post by yenilira on Nov 20, 2011 22:35:58 GMT 1
What could be more Turkish than coffee?
Tea, actually.
When the Ottoman Empire collapsed in 1923, the Turks lost Mocha and suddenly coffee was an expensive import.
Bereft of the traditional high-octane stimulant, Turks turned to tea (çay).
What beer is to a Bavarian, tea is to a Turk.
Çay oils the wheels of commerce, government and society. It is served everywhere, anytime, in tiny gold-rimmed, tulip-shaped glasses accompanied by two or three huge lumps of beetroot sugar.
A Turk's first question is Nasilsiniz? (How are you?)
The second inevitably is "Some tea?"
To be ignorant of Turkish tea customs is to expose oneself to reactions ranging from bemused wonder to solicitous alarm.
Tea without sugar? Perhaps you're diabetic.
Açik (weak) çay? That's for ladies and the faint of heart.
Only one glass? Tut tut, drink up, we'll get some fresh.
Tea with lemon? How exotic.
Tea with milk? Allah protect us!
Turkish tea: hot, fragrant, bracing, and available all the time in Turkey.
"Tink tink tink tinka tinka tinklinklinkle”, the tiny stainless steel spoons ring against the little tulip-shaped glasses as you stir in sugar, holding the spoon-end between thumb and index finger, pinkie aloft.
Hold the gold rim of the glass so as not to burn one's fingers. Dainty sotto voce slurps, mixing cool air with hot tea as it enters the mouth.
An audible sigh. “Ahhhhh! Good tea."
Turkish coffee is more famous, but Turkish tea (çay) is the national drink, brewed from leaves grown on the steep, verdant mountain slopes of Turkey's eastern Black Sea coast.
Traditionally, Turkish tea is brewed samovar-style, with a small pot of very strong tea kept hot atop a larger vessel of boiling water.
Pour a small amount of strong tea into a little tulip-shaped glass and cut it to the desired strength with hot water.
In recent years tea bags, especially foreign brands, have become something of a status symbol, but most of Turkey still runs on real samovar-brewed Black Sea coast tea.
Turks usually add cube sugar (never milk or lemon, although you can often get milk or lemon if you ask.)
The sight of the çayci (tea-waiter) carrying a tray of glasses to thirsty, caffeine-craving tea-drinkers is one of the first and most common sights you'll see in Turkey. Having fresh, hot tea always available everywhere is one of life's splendid little luxuries in Turkey.
Order your tea açik (“open,” weak), or koyu (dark) as you like, or just order çay and it will come normal strength.
In some restaurants and pastry-shops you can order a duble çay (double tea): it comes in a water glass. But why not have a small traditional glass and when you've finished it order a fresh one? And another, and another....
If you don't want caffeine, try these:
Ada Çay: sage tea, one of several popular herbal infusions (bitki çaylari)
Ihlamur: linden-flower tea (mostly in winter)
Elma Çay: apple tea, like hot apple juice. Lovely and refreshing on a hot summer's day.
No doubt you'll like to bring some back to England........
but it tastes completely different, does not have the flavour of that cup you had in the Bazaar....
it's all in the water, and in the making...
YL.
Tea, actually.
When the Ottoman Empire collapsed in 1923, the Turks lost Mocha and suddenly coffee was an expensive import.
Bereft of the traditional high-octane stimulant, Turks turned to tea (çay).
What beer is to a Bavarian, tea is to a Turk.
Çay oils the wheels of commerce, government and society. It is served everywhere, anytime, in tiny gold-rimmed, tulip-shaped glasses accompanied by two or three huge lumps of beetroot sugar.
A Turk's first question is Nasilsiniz? (How are you?)
The second inevitably is "Some tea?"
To be ignorant of Turkish tea customs is to expose oneself to reactions ranging from bemused wonder to solicitous alarm.
Tea without sugar? Perhaps you're diabetic.
Açik (weak) çay? That's for ladies and the faint of heart.
Only one glass? Tut tut, drink up, we'll get some fresh.
Tea with lemon? How exotic.
Tea with milk? Allah protect us!
Turkish tea: hot, fragrant, bracing, and available all the time in Turkey.
"Tink tink tink tinka tinka tinklinklinkle”, the tiny stainless steel spoons ring against the little tulip-shaped glasses as you stir in sugar, holding the spoon-end between thumb and index finger, pinkie aloft.
Hold the gold rim of the glass so as not to burn one's fingers. Dainty sotto voce slurps, mixing cool air with hot tea as it enters the mouth.
An audible sigh. “Ahhhhh! Good tea."
Turkish coffee is more famous, but Turkish tea (çay) is the national drink, brewed from leaves grown on the steep, verdant mountain slopes of Turkey's eastern Black Sea coast.
Traditionally, Turkish tea is brewed samovar-style, with a small pot of very strong tea kept hot atop a larger vessel of boiling water.
Pour a small amount of strong tea into a little tulip-shaped glass and cut it to the desired strength with hot water.
In recent years tea bags, especially foreign brands, have become something of a status symbol, but most of Turkey still runs on real samovar-brewed Black Sea coast tea.
Turks usually add cube sugar (never milk or lemon, although you can often get milk or lemon if you ask.)
The sight of the çayci (tea-waiter) carrying a tray of glasses to thirsty, caffeine-craving tea-drinkers is one of the first and most common sights you'll see in Turkey. Having fresh, hot tea always available everywhere is one of life's splendid little luxuries in Turkey.
Order your tea açik (“open,” weak), or koyu (dark) as you like, or just order çay and it will come normal strength.
In some restaurants and pastry-shops you can order a duble çay (double tea): it comes in a water glass. But why not have a small traditional glass and when you've finished it order a fresh one? And another, and another....
If you don't want caffeine, try these:
Ada Çay: sage tea, one of several popular herbal infusions (bitki çaylari)
Ihlamur: linden-flower tea (mostly in winter)
Elma Çay: apple tea, like hot apple juice. Lovely and refreshing on a hot summer's day.
No doubt you'll like to bring some back to England........
but it tastes completely different, does not have the flavour of that cup you had in the Bazaar....
it's all in the water, and in the making...
YL.