Not that I've been
dreaming of Greek coffee the way I dream about $700 espresso machines.
Not that I've been looking for a better way to do coffee than to make it
out of beans I roasted the night before. Not that I need to change
anything about my morning routine (except get my kids to sleep past 5:30
a.m.). But I have been intrigued by the unused
briki (BREE kee) in my
enormous and less than useful coffee pot collection. They are always leftover at estate
sales and cheap in thrift store because most people don't know what they
are or how to use them.
So when her sister-in-law in Athens sent a care
package that included the most delicious smelling fresh ground coffee
I'd ever stuck my nose in, Evdoxia, my Greek cooking teacher, insisted I try some. It smelled
so
good in the bag. Good and creamy enough to put on your skin like lotion,
or put in your mouth with a spoon. Ground so fine it felt like talc.
But the most remarkable thing about it is how easy it is to make a perfect cup. Here's the recipe, it's too easy not to try:
Put
two demitasse cups of water into the
briki (or however many cups you
want to serve). Put it on a burner set to medium heat. While the water is heating,
add a teaspoon of sugar, if desired, for each cup of water. Continue to
heat about 45 seconds more before adding a heaping teaspoon of
extra-finely ground coffee. Stir. Continue heating until creamy foam
(the
crema) forms and the liquid begins to rise as if it were going boil over.
Remove from heat. Immediately pour evenly into the cups. Wait a minute
for the coffee to cool and the grounds to settle. Drink down to just above the grounds (more like
mud).
That's it. The whole process takes
about five minutes, making it and drinking it. It may look like a shot
of espresso, and it does pack a similar punch. But it is so smooth and
creamy, not bitter at all. It is like ... actually there really isn't
anything to compare it to. After you drink it you feel like you've had
your coffee and doughnut at the same time.
Of course, that's the American way of drinking Greek coffee. The way Evdoxia describes
it, serving proper Greek coffee is kind of like a Chinese tea ceremony. There is
a certain way of setting the table, and of serving and consuming the
beverage and accompanying cookie, spoon of preserves and glass of cognac.
Now wouldn't
that just hit the spot for your afternoon snack?
