The week before I left Turkey, Lars, Erin, Amer, and I went to get our coffee grounds read. It's a Turkish tradition that after drinking Turkish coffee, you flip you cup over and have someone read the grinds left behind in your cup and on the saucer. It was a fun experience, though the gist of all our readings was "you will be happy, everything will work out, you'll celebrate, get better jobs, and travel." Pretty obvious optimistic observations given our motley crew.
Since arriving back in the USA, I have found two excerpts of interest related to Turkish coffee. The first I found in an exhibit on British Visual Culture and the Levant 1600-1830 at the Yale British Art Museum:
And if you see the great Murat
With Sash on's head instead of hat,
Or any Sultan in his dress,
Or picture of a Sultaness ...
Or if you see a coffee-cup
Filled from a Turkish pot, hung up
Within the Clouds, and round it Pipes,
Wax candles, stoppers, these are types
And certain Signes (with many more
Would be too longe to write the more)
Which plainly do Spectators tell
That in this house they Coffee sell.
- "The Character of a Coffee-House," 1665
And then this excerpt is from an ad for Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi coffee:
"There is no drink like the the generously foaming, wondeful aroma of Turkish coffee.
Even when frequently savoured, due to the amount used, Turkish coffee does not significantly contribute to obesity and the amount of caffeine consumed is measurable."
So drink up, Turkish coffee won't add to your waistline! I do love Turkish coffee. I had some a couple of weeks ago in West Haven with Katie T. at Saray. Yum!
