Hot, thick and strong
- Coffee came to Bosnia through the Ottomans.
- The first coffeehouse in Southeastern Europe opened in Sarajevo in the 16th century.
- 1591 there was the first well-equipped coffee roaster.
- Bosnian coffee survived the Viennese coffee culture of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy.
- Since 1992, the country has been independent and the Bosnian coffee tradition has been an important part of national identity.
☕ Traditional Preparation
In Bosnia, coffee is closely linked with friendship and family. Coffee is drunk all day long. It is not just a beverage, but a ritual. Depending on the time of day, there is a specific name for drinking coffee:
- razgalica – in the morning
- razgovoruša – later day
- sikteruša – after eating
The coffee is here partly still ground by hand in a mortar (dibek). Then the coffee powder is sifted. What advantage could justify so much work? Clearly: the taste. Especially in the case of powdery grinding, the coffee powder heats up very much in a coffee grinder, losing a quarter of the aroma. That does not happen when mortars.
Kahva
- A heaped tsp of finely ground coffee is poured into the previously heated small jug (džezva) and doused with boiling water.
- Some hot water is set aside and given to the coffee once it’s boiled up.
- The coffee is boiled again until there is a lot of foam on top.
- Then you take it from the stove, let it rest shortly and then fill it in small mocha cups (Fildžan or Findžan).
- The coffee is served on a metal tray (usually copper-plated) with a glass of water, Rahat Lokum and sugar cubes (šečerluk).
- You bite the sugar, put it under your tongue and then sip the coffee so that the sugar dissolves.
Coffee
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