QAHWA
turkish coffee
When you visit a Lebanese home, your host or hostess will ask how you like your Turkish coffee, offering a choice between murra or sada (unsweetened), wassat or mazbuta (medium- sweet), and hilwa (sweet). The coffee is then “cooked”—always on top of the stove rather than brewed—to taste. The only time you will not be given a choice is if you are visiting for a sad or solemn occasion, in which case only unsweetened coffee is served. Mountain folk use cups with no handles, into which they pour a small amount of bitter coffee that they call shaffeh, meaning “one sip.” Simply multiply the quantities given by the number of people to be served.
SERVES 1
1/4 cup [60 ml] water
1 tsp finely ground coffee
1/2 to 1 tsp sugar
Pour the water into a rakweh (a special pot for making Turkish coffee; if you don’t have one, simply use a small saucepan with a spout or a stainless-steel butter warmer). Place the pot over medium heat and bring the water to a boil. Stir in the coffee and sugar (1/2 tsp for medium-sweet, 1 tsp for sweet), turn the heat to medium-low, and wait until the coffee foams up. Remove from the heat as soon as the coffee starts rising up. Wait for it to settle, and then return to the heat. Remove as soon as the coffee foams up again and repeat another two or three times, until there is no more foam. Some people like their coffee quite foamy and stop after the first or second rise. Serve in demitasse cups.