COFFEE TIME

When someone in Bosnia invites you for a coffee, it does not mean only drinking a hot beverage together; it means a lot more. The well-known phrases “let's go for a coffee” or “shall we have a coffee” mean that the person who is inviting you wants to spend some time with you, chatting and socializing.

Both in our tradition and today, coffee has been an indispensable part of daily life. However, it is also a special ćejf (enjoyment). We begin the day with coffee, we welcome guests and see the, off with the coffee, the coffee accompanies important conversations, we take a rest with the coffee, we use the coffee to cure a headache; it is also integral part of many customs: for instance, during a marriage proposal, the sweetened coffee signifies a positive reply of the bride's parents, while the bitter coffee signifies the opposite; when someone dies at home, the first neighbor brings a big pot of coffee to share the grief; when you come to pay condolences you always bring coffee; many other rituals are also unthinkable without this magical beverage. Dočekuša (welcome coffee), razgovoruša (chatting coffee), sikteruša (sending away coffee) are names which by themselves speak enough about the presence of and love for the coffee in our households is made when guests arrive. After some time, as the visit proceeds in a pleasant atmosphere, or after the meal, the hostess will say: “Well, it's the right time for a razgovoruša!” When guests want to leave, the hostess says: “Well, you're not leaving without the coffee, we haven't even had a sikteruša yet!”

Thus, a particular attention is paid to preparing, serving and consuming coffee. Upon arriving in our regions (in the 16th century), coffee was typically consumed in coffee houses, and somewhat later at homes. Besides drinking coffee for a long time and a gusto, coffee houses offered various contents, such as singers who sang folk songs accompanied by gusle, narrators who told various tales and riddles, travelers, mostly hajjis, who told about their experiences from the journey and stories about other cultures and civilizations, parlor games, Karagoz (shadow theater). This was the way in which oral folk literature was nourished. Initially, coffee and coffee houses faces resistance form some layers of the society and they were even forbidden on several occasions; however, they still survived.

Preparation of coffee begins with roasting. At a time, coffee was roasted in tahmishanas (coffee roasting shops), where it was both roasted and pounded. It was roasted in a šiš, i.e. a dish of red sheet metal in the shape of a cylinder, with an iron stick attached to it which was used to turn the šiš over the fire. The šiš was also used at homes, and the irresistible smell of coffee spread during roasting.

After roasting, the beans are left to cool and are then ground. Coffee used to be pounded in a dibek. The dibek is a mortar made of hollowed stone or, not so often, of wood, where coffee was pounded with the pry. The whole process proceeded in tahmishanas, or in households. Coffee grinders appeared somewhat later, in the mid-18th century. Grinders are still used at homes, though unfortunately increasingly less often.

The gear necessary for brewing coffee include šerbetnjak and džezva (Turkish coffeepot with a long handle). Šerbetnjak is a dish for boiling water, actually šerbet, or sweetened water. Coffee even used to be brewed with mead, probably because sugar was sometimes expensive. It is not known why this custom of brewing coffee with sweetened water disappeared. Šerbetnjak is a dish in the shape of a small ewer with the lid. Some amount of powdered coffee, measured by teaspoons, is poured in the džezva. One teaspoonful is usually a good measure for a cup or a fildžan (small round cup). The džezva is put on the stove to roast the coffee a bit, and it is probably why locals use term ”to roast” coffee. Hot, though not boiling, water is then poured over it. When the coffee “passes through”, it is taken off the stove.

Džezva is part of the takum – coffee gear. The gear also includes the šećerluk, fildžans, zarfs and tabla. Šećerluk is a vessel for serving sugar, and in Bosnia sugar is served in cubes. Fildžan is a round china dish without the handle used for drinking coffee. Zarf is a small metal glass in which a fildžan is inserted and which makes it easier to hold the hot fildžan in the hand; at the same time, it prevents the coffee from cooling. All these parts are served on the tabla (tray). The traditional takum for coffee is made of copper, it is tinned and richly decorated, to increase the pleasure. Copper dishes were tinned, and then kazandžijas (coppersmiths) used the techniques of savat – engraving and kalemljenje – chasing to decorate the items with ornaments with geometric and plant motifs.

One of important, though completely forgotten elements of traditional serving and drinking coffee is the mangala. Mangala is a large vessel of copper or earth, of a special shape and size, which reminds of a small table. In its middle there is an indentation, which serves for holding coal embers. It is surrounded by pervaz – a ledge on which fildžans with zarfs are placed. Mangala served for keeping hot beverages - coffee, tea and salep - warm, and for lighting hookah. It proves that conversations over coffee lasted long, and that people enjoyed themselves. Quite often, hookah was smoked over coffee on these occasions. To enjoy coffee, as well as afternoon rest, conversation or company, Bosnian rooms had minders, sofas for sitting which were fairly large and had cushions to allow a comfortable position, raising or stretching legs, leaning on the cushions and thus increase the pleasure of having coffee and hookah. In old Bosnian houses there were also other spaces intended for enjoyment and pleasure, such as kamarijas, balconies with a view of a flowery yard or garden, arbors in gardens, all adjusted to spending pleasant time in company. Women were particularly fond of such gatherings: they would prepare sweets, do handiwork together with pleasure, or croon sevladinkas. Even today there is a custom that women gather over coffee and cakes, in a somewhat more modern form.

The centuries-long existence of hospitality and enjoyment in coffee in our tradition is also supported by the fact that Bosnian houses had a separate room called kahve-odžak. This small room served only for preparing coffee. It consisted of a hearth where coffee was roasted in a šiš and, later on, brewed. In front of the hearth there was a šilte (mattress) or, somewhat later, a tripod, where the hostess sat when roasting. The hearth was surrounded by shelves with the whole coffee gear. In the yard in front of the kahve-odžak one could often find a mortar for pounding coffee.

The claim that people have always enjoyed in having coffee and that coffee is really important in our lives is supported by the datum that there are about thirty names for the same beverage, prepared in different ways and used on different occasions. We will list only some of them: akšamija – coffee which is enjoyed after the sunset, ićindijuša – coffee which is enjoyed at the time of ikindija (afternoon prayer), typically in the company of female neighbors, mangaluša – the coffee enjoyed by the mangala, smočuša – coffee drunk with a sugar cube which is dipped in the coffee, srkulja – when he coffee is slurped to increase the pleasure, sprža – coffee which burns the mouth when drunk, which is not good because the good coffee must not burn the mouth even when it is hot, zijafetka is enjoyed when women visit each other, while tahmiska is not ground but pounded. There is also tatlija – too sweet, tirjatlija – not sweet enough, tankača – “thin“, i.e. coffee with too much water, ačik – insufficiently roasted coffee, kajmaklija – with a lot of foam on the top and others. And, of course, the well-known dočekuša, razgovoruša and sikteruša!

References:

• Kreševljaković, Hamdija (1991), Izabrana djela II. Sarajevo: Veselin Masleša.

• Serdarević, Mevlida, Ajnija Omanić (2009), Bošnjačka kultura ponašanja, Sarajevo: Art 7

• Kreševljaković Muhamed, Nema kafe, al ima imena, an article, private library of Nihad and Sead Kreševljaković.