IMG 0848“Here’s your coffee, Sir, coffee in Saudi born, / from Ispaan brought in by caravans. / The Arab is certainly always the best coffee (…) You want to do little; / Put you your dose, and not be paid to the fire. / Far rouse the foam, then lower to a sudden / Six, seven times at least, the coffee is done soon.” (Carlo Goldoni)

The turkish coffee is, therefore, a World Heritage Site. Following the proposal made by the government of Ankara, the United Nations for Education, Science and Culture Organization has entered the ‘Turk Kahvesi’ in the list of intangible assets that belong to the heritage of all humanity. The Turk Kahvesi , says the president of the Commission Ocal Oguz, “famous throughout the world for its style, metod of preparation, the traditional presentation.”

Known throughout the Mediterranean basin, but also exported in the hinterland of Asia, Europe and Africa, is a legacy of the Ottoman Empire, by the captivating charme for travelers, intellectuals and artists from around the world. Nemo profeta in patria, we say, and also for the turkish coffee is the saying: the Chai, strong and flavored  tea with ginger and cardamom, with the addition of other spices like cinnamon and cloves, in Turkey is much more popular than coffee .

Proof of coffee was once commonly used in Turkish families, on the occasion of a marriage proposal. The culinary skills of girlfriend was put to the test by the parents of the aspiring groom, who demanded the girl preparing a turkish coffee of excellent quality. Today, despite having lost all its contractual value, the offer of a good coffee to the parents of the boyfriend is part of the symbolic rituals of the Turkish families .

The preparation of the Turk Kahvesi is almost esoteric and magic: coffee beans should be ground very finely, grind into a fine powder to boil in a small pot brass ( ibrik is called, strangely enough .. ) with water and sugar. You can add some spice such as cardamom. Coffee should boil and simmer for three times and then be poured into a cup porcelain, coated brass. The bubbles of foam that form on the surface, are, according to the Greeks saying, as just as many kisses to come. Do not forget to let it rest a few minutes before drinking it  in this way the coffee powder settles to the bottom and once drank the liquid dense and velvety, you will be able to read in those funds your future: it is the caffeomanzia, divination practiced for centuries in all the lands of the  Empire .

But when we come to coffee does not always mean simply drink, sometimes we want to indicate a space, an environment, a place where people can go for a drink and to exchange a few words with the other people. In Paris, in 1992, following an interview by the philosopher Marc Sautet who confessed in public that he had the habit of meeting friends at a cafe in the Place de la Bastille, talking with them about philosophical issues, favored the emergence of the first Café Philosophique. In a short time, around Sautet, every Sunday a growing number of people came, eager to share their ideas with others, talking about the big issues of life, but current topics and less demanding too. It came to exceed 200 people at a time and many would take the chair from home.

In a cafe . With a cup of coffee . A talk about philosophy and life. To meet others. Like a journey.