THE RICH CULTURE OF BOSNIAN COFFEE

Bosnia while borrowing much from Turkey during Ottoman years on many areas, bosniens object to their coffee being deemed Turkish. To them it is more than a drink;it is a ritual. It is their mark of distinction;a source of national pride. To get a glimpse of how much esteem they accord their coffee, you first get to understand that it is served in a special small handle-less traditional coffee mug. It has a strict method of preparation that defies change and any form of innovation. It is a vintage drink that the people of Bosnia-Herzegovina hallow so much.

Many people wonder what particularly distinguishes Bosnian coffee from Turkish coffee. The difference, and a very important one, occurs in the method of preparation. The preparation for the Bosnian coffee begins with acquiring whole coffee beans that have to be roasted in a wood burning stove.



Their rich tradition requires that you pulverize only enough to be used in a single serving;it is not good practice, according to their culture, to store ground coffee. Some abhor coffee ground by an electric grinder as they suppose that over-grinding affects the vintage taste of their coffee.

While both the Bosnian and the Turk prepare their coffee in a long-necked copper-plated pot called the dzezva, they differ on the time they should add coffee powder.

Turkish Coffee demands that coffee powder and probably sugar be added to cold water before placing it on the stove, the Bosnian waits for water to warm first.

After boiling, a ‘fildzan’ of hot water is set aside. A ‘fildzan’ is the small handle-less traditional mug. After setting aside the ‘fildzan’ of hot water, the coffee is then added to the water and allowed to boil yet again. The coffee is supposed to boil until a rich layer of foam forms on top of the dzezva.That is the time now that the ‘fildzan’ of hot water is poured onto the dzezva.

That is how different Bosnien coffee is from Turkish coffee. While these differences are seemingly small, they produce a wide difference in the taste of either. Adding coffee later in the process enriches the coffee with a certain distinct and robust flavor and the addition of the hot water at the end helps the coffee foam, a very important sign in the preparation of the Bosnian coffee.

Being a ritual, there is strict emphasis on detail. How their coffee is served must adhere to the age-old traditions prevalent there. First of all, the coffee looks like a brown concoction, thick and potent. At length those are the similarities the Turkish and Bosnien coffee share. But in Turkey, the dzezva remains in the Kitchen while in Bosnia, the whole dzezva pot is served on a warm iron tray.

There is also a particular way of drinking it. The drinker first of all takes a sip of water. Takes a spoon and fills it with foam from the dzezva pot

. Fills his ceramic cup with the coffee and then adds the foam to it. They are not supposed to add sugar directly to the coffee as it is in Turkey; the drinker is to bite a bit of sugar from the sugar cube, place it under his tongue and then sip coffee and then allow the sugar to dissolve.

The Bosnian has rationale for why they serve coffee on the dzezva pot. They aver that it is good in such a way that it allows the drinkers to get to eat the grits that remain at the bottom of the pot. Secondly, the dzezva pot keeps the coffee hot for a longer period of time.

It is worth noting that family and relationships are integral in the Bosnia culture. Communication is important in every sphere of their lives. It is upon this background that the Bosnian coffee, also known as Bonsaska Cava, is viewed reverently as coffee time is usually an invitation to a conversation. Taking coffee on the run is despised, and the tradition is, people must sit down and take coffee the traditional way;that is, a serving direct from the dzezva pot to the ‘fildzan’.