The Greek Coffee Culture > at the cafe May 28, 2007
Posted by grhomeboy in HMN>GreekFoodCulture.trackback
Greek cafes are very popular all around Greece, in the mainland and in the islands.
For a Greek person, it is not simply a place where you drink or buy coffee. It is a social gathering where people meet up to relax, have a drink or dessert or snack and discuss political issues, world problems, personal issues or for a gossip. This is where Greek people ‘chill out’ and let go of life’s troubles. So, it is usually a place with a lot of noise.
The Kafenio is a place where men usually go to have coffee. One can almost call it ‘a boys’ coffee club’. Of course they will serve coffee to a woman, however it is generally a place where men go to relax away from work and their wives. There they drink coffee or have a beer with their friends, play cards, “tavli”, the backgammon, and sometimes play with their ‘worry beats’. You tend to see many older men in the kafenio and that’s because they are usually retired and spend many hours of each day there.
The Greek coffee they drink has been around for centuries. Dated back to the Byzantium times it is a coffee ‘adopted’ by the Greeks from the Ottoman Empire. However the Greek coffee has a different texture to that of the Turkish coffee.
There are many types of coffees in Greece, but there are three main ones: sketos which is plain Greek coffee, meaning with no sugar, metrios which is medium Greek coffee, with a little bit of sugar, half to one teaspoon and glikos which is sweet Greek coffee, with lots of sugar, one or two teaspoons.
How is it made? Very simple, using a small metal saucer with a handle called the ‘briki’. Once ingredients are added, water, coffee and sugar, and froth is formed, it is removed from heat and served in little tiny cup and saucer. The perfect Greek coffee tends to have a little froth on top. If overcooked, the froth disappears. Greek coffee is always serveed with a glass of water.
Greek ladies also like to dip a biscuit, either sweet or savoury, in their coffee. Sometimes they will tip the cup over and ‘read’ the shapes left behind by the coffee residue, apparently predicting the future. This has nothing to do with the Greek Orthodox Christian Church, nor the Christian faith. It is simply a social passing time, just another excuse to talk!
Ordering a coffee in a Greek cafe is simple, but it may be all Greek to you! Check our Learn to speak Greek category and voila! You will be able to speak Greek like a native, maybe even better than myself!
