He was excited, Özgür, he has been my partner in coffee crime for more than 15 years, ‘I have some great news for you, about Turkish coffee…’ He has been working at/with Turkish Coffee Culture and Research Association (TCCRA) from the day it was founded, witnessing Turkish coffee getting back its reputation, climbing to the place it longed and belongs.
Then we heard the great news, Turkish Coffee Culture was admitted to the Intangible Cultural Heritage List of UNESCO! On UNESCO’s web Intangible lists defined as: ‘Intangible cultural heritage, also known as ‘living heritage’, refers to the practices, representations, expressions, knowledge and skills transmitted by communities from generation to generation.’ And Turkish Coffee and its Culture met the criteria, hence the first one is stated ‘Passed on from generation to generation within Turkish families, the knowledge and skills related to the tradition of Turkish coffee provide a sense of identity and continuity, reinforcing social cohesion and openness through hospitality and entertainment’
Yes, that is a great social definition of Turkish Coffee, our coffee which we can spend an entire hour with a tiny cup, sharing this moment with our loved ones, talking about our day, sipping it slowly, reading the morning newspaper, talking about this and that, relaxing after a shopping spree, after breakfast, lunch, dinner you name the hour of the day, we love to have one with any kind of excuse. Whatever your problem might be, our answer is always ‘let’s talk this over coffee…’ We always mean Turkish Coffee!
After Ceremonial Keşkek Tradition getting listed in Intangible Cultural List in 2011, Turkish Coffee Culture and Tradition is the 11th item about Turkey’s customs and traditions on UNESCO’s list. And it the first beverage listed. TCCRA and Republic of Turkey Ministry of Culture and Tourism have been working on this intensively for the past years, the books about coffee have been published with the help of TCCRA, the researches are going on and we will be hearing a lot of their projects in the near future.
This is just a beginning… We need to train everyone, drinkers, roasters, coffee makers, tea house owners, cezve –coffee pot- makers, all hospitality professionals… One step at a time!
You may reach UNESCO’s website here, also this is the video showed on the website…