Coffee memoires

Coffe Memoires

I commence with the coffee that I am sipping whilst writing to you. Turkish coffe is the traditional at home to be had coffee on the Blakan teritory and espresso is the outdoor in the bar reading newspaper coffee.

Turksih Coffee

Turkish coffee is what we call it. However in Turkey its as thick as tar and can only be sucked trough the teeth to keep the coffee sand away. In Egypt they add cardamaom cornels producing a strange tasting mud. In Bosnia they boil water seperatly and heat ground coffee on the bottom of the Jezva pan than mix with water, they bite at sugar cubes whilst sipping the bitter black juice. In Croatia one boils water and plenty of sugar in the Jezica , than adds the ground coffee for it to froth, and is drunk with milk .

My mother makes Turkish coffee with honey, to add a healthy aspect to the un healthy coffee she cant live without.

Balkan Manners

It is considered good manners to bring a packet of coffee and biscuits or other consumables wrapped up in simple white paper, on ones visit to someone’s home on an informal visit.

Just as it is good manners to offer, coffee, juice, rakija, biscuits, cakes, food, and everything one may have in ones house to visitors until it is refused or all consumed.

Etiquette

In Bosina you will receive 3 coffees, a welcome coffee, a conversation coffee and a go away coffee which means there is the door, your coat, shoes, leave.

Medicinal Properties

In the life of JT dear painter friend, espresso is to be drunk, once ,twice, thrice until he goes to the bathroom and produces what he calls proudly his first creation of the day. And only after some hours will he go home and paint.

For digestion problems Zrinka’s recommended home therapy is a Turkish coffee with 16 spoons of sugar, and not the chewing of a bowl of dry seeds from Machu Pichu 24 times as some infidels do.

Tempo

In Croatia the coffee sit down with friends can last an hour or two, and you can add more coffees at different bars after.

In Italy the espresso is drunk at the bar in a shot.

Having come back from out of town I called Caterina to ask her for a coffe, she drowe on her scooter all across Rome to Via del Pelegrini , to order coffe which che fhinished in 3 minutes. I offered another. It was still far too short with the added cigarettes and than she drowe off.

Function

In Split one uses the coffee to sit behind it on the riviera to people watch and comment.

In Zagreb one uses the coffee to be seen.

Drinking coffe at the window of art studio and watching a storm thrash sea over the edge and square gigleling with a friend, sending inapropriate messages, and fortune reading is the best way to consume turksih coffee since I have over cooked and melted the espresso pot, a present of Ivana given for such occasions.

Coffee and alcohol

Quaint old bars in Rome also have a coffee and sugar fluffy cream they add to the espresso, instead of adding bags of sugar. Its lush. They also offer you morning grappa with the coffee.

In Dalamatia after the first 4am coffee fishermen swallow Rakija until lunchtime when they alternate to vine.

Espresso Hirearchy

Italian espresso is the best.

After Italian Croatian espresso is second best.

Than it gets hard. English, German, French coffees are horrible, and so is Mexican. I suppose Spanish espresso comes 3^rd.

4^th A Vienna coffee is not horrid.

5^th Bosinian expresso.

In some countries the espresso does not exist.

If in the wild west of Europe or America in great need of decent coffee find a decent Italian bar or restourant.

The western coffee

In France the best tasting coffee is the noisette. Little espresso little warm milk.

French in general have horrible coffee. They just put too much water in it.
I’m certain they invented the Caffeetiere.. When one gests acustomed to it, and starts being snobby about where the extra terrestial organic grain comes from, as half my London friends do it can be nice, but still its far too watery .

In England offices employees drink 12 mugs of watery instant coffee per day, and dip into it buiscuits such as custard creams, hobnobs and burbons. When English wish to drink good coffe they buy the French caffetieres.

On Brick Lane Indian restaurants they serve Nescafe with double cream, surprisinlgey delicious and surprisingley a fast way to get fat.

Germans cook coffee as if its soup, couple of liters at a time, than fuel their big internal Mercedes engines with it.

American brew coffe similar to the Germans filling macho pint or 2 pint cups with a quantity of milk and water which reflects the size of their macho truck parked in the yard.

In Mexico the best coffee is at Starbucks in Moterray, which is really sad seeing they produce the grain. But to my shock horror Mexicans drink mainleyNescafe.

Nescafe is the death of coffee.