In Mardin: Servet Bilbay's Mırra

 

We left tawny, arid southeastern Turkey a week ago. And I'm missing the coffee.

Clearing the cobwebs at dawn in Gaziantep, Mardin, and Midyat was never a challenge because every tea house also serves coffee. Not the case, we found, in Van and Kars. And the local coffee in Istanbul just doesn't taste the same. (Another example of the flavor that context lends, perhaps.)

 

We were charmed by Mardin, an ancient town of grand amber limestone homes, mosques, churches, and medreses clinging to a hill overlooking the Syrian plain. It's in 'Mesopotamia', widely believed to be the 'Cradle of Civilization'. Awe-inspiring stuff, but the city feels as regular and comfortable as a worn-in flip-flop. Right before we quit town I tossed out a Mardin pitch. When my editor responded positively we backtracked from Midyat, happily.

Seven mornings we spent winding our way up and down Mardin's steep cut-stone lanes. We hugged courtyard walls for shade, Dave kept eyes open for the money shot, and we both lost ourselves many times over in the çarşılar (markets) that climb a slope beneath Mardin's main street, stacked one on top of the other like layers in a club sandwich,

Propelling ourselves up and down and up again with tiny cups of coffee and chasers of tea, we managed to hit most of Mardin's tea houses.

And identified our very favorite on our very last morning: Çamlı Köşk Kıraathane.

"I am Kurd!" Servet Bilbay says proudly, as all of the Kurds we have met on this trip do. Long ago Mardin was settled by a mix of ethnicities and religions: Christians and Muslims, Kurds and Turks, Assyrians/Syriac and Armenians.

Servet comes from a long line of Mardinli; his extended family counts more than 300 members still living in the town.

Çamlı Köşk has a history too: it was opened by Servet's grandfather, which makes him the third generation to prepare coffee behind its wooden kiosk. On one of the shop's walls hang black-and-white photographs of the shop's construction in the early 20th century, of customers and friends hanging out with its owners. Portraits of Servet's grandfather and father -- sprouting thick moustaches much like his -- are there too.

It was at Çamlı Köşk that we first sampled mırra (pronounced MUR-rah, with a good roll of the tongue at the double 'r'), a thick, syrupy brew with a pronounced bitter bite (it's also called acı kahve or 'bitter coffee').

Mırra is made by boiling coarsely ground, double-roasted beans several times over; Servet boils his for over an hour. Like many mırra makers he adds cardamom seeds to soften the beverage's bitterness -- but there's no getting around its almost metallic acidity. At first sip one's tongue instinctively curls up around the liquid as if to shield taste buds from the assault.

Mırra is to Turkish and Syrian coffee what espresso is to a cup of Starbuck's. Its delivers a whallop of a wake-up call.

Traditionally made for special occasions such as weddings, mırra is poured into a clean pot before serving and is drunk from a tiny cup (see top photo). Two doses, one after the other, are the norm. "Ooooh!" Servet utters with a nod and a big grin, when I throw back my second cup.

After we've finished our mırra, Servet circulates amongst the other customers (which is not many on a Sunday at 7am -- folks in Turkey are generally not early risers) with the coffee pot. As custom dictates they all drink mırra from the same cup.

Servet also brews an excellent Suriyani kahvesi (Syrian coffee), heady with cardamom and boasting a manageable coffee-to-grounds ratio (like Turkish coffee, Syrian coffee is served with its grounds, which settle at the bottom of the cup).

And upon request he will prepare menengiç, a hot beverage made with dried, roasted, and pounded wild pistachios. (Read more about menengiç in Gaziantep, in this write-up by Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisine expert, chef, and author Anissa Helou.)

Servet made my menengiç as it is most often made these days in southeastern Turkey, with a jarred prepared paste. Some menengiç drinkers take theirs with water but he prepared mine with fresh milk. It was lovely, something like hot liquid sesame-and-almond butter with the barest hint of cacao.

'Menengiç ice cream' is what I couldn't stop thinking.

Çamlı Köşk Kıraathane, No. 207, 1 Caddesi (the main street), Mardin.

Comments

[mel harjono]

oh my. i am so envious as i can't seem to find a decent coffee shop in Makassar...

[Account Deleted]

Great post.
Making me miss coffee even more.
"Old coffee" made here in Thailand in a 'sock' filter from Chiang Mai coffee beans is great, but not available here where I'm staying right now.
In the Middle East it was just great. Coffee, mint tea. Repeat daily.
Thanks for sharing and making me miss my caffeine fix :-)

[steve]

Great post. thank you

I have been to your site several times now, and this time I am adding it to my bookmarks.

Keep it up with the great work.

[sophie]

thank you for all the posts, i am a convert of your blog. i cannot get enough reading and re reading of all your posts. kudos to you and Dave. through this site my love, passion for food is strengthened and gives me inspiration to pursue my long standing love affair with food. but with your blogs/posts i can reach through reading, places i never heard of and food that is really awesome and looks too appetizing with excellent photos incorporated. keep up the good work, and looking forward to a lot of blogs to read...

[Sticky]

that last bev is almost like a cereal...is it only drunk at bfast?

I must say that while I like the variation in the way coffee is consumed, I'm not a great fan of the grounds in the drink ways of that part of the world (Greece also),and def must be had with sugar, don't you think.

Just finally, out of interest, are these coffee shops in Mardin (and Turkey in general) largely the domain of men?

[Robyn]

Mel - yes we had the same problem. Strange, given that there are so many great places to have a good strong cup of coffee just 9 hrs away in Toraja. We found an OK place in Makassar's tiny Chinatown -- I'd give you the address but my notebook is in KL.

Chef -- I've posted on Thailand's kafe booran before. Seems it's harder and harder to find a good, authentic cup though. We had good luck with a few Chs-Thai-run stalls in Klong Toey.

Thanks Steve and Sophie, glad you're enjoying.

Sticky, I think menengic is any any-time-of-the-day bev. I agree re: the grounds, though I have honed my drinking skills to the point where I can get maximum liquid w/minimum grounds.
As to your last question -- I'm working on a longish post on that very topic! (Great minds think alike?)

[Migration Mark]

That mırra sounds like it would give a serious boost. After boiling for an hour, surely all of the caffeinated goodness is extracted. I could definitely use a double dosage these days during the World Cup!

[Katy]

About that 'last question' - I did wonder why you always seemed to be finding men to talk to in the streets :-) - and in some of Dave's photos too - Male Turks seem to be enjoy each other's company and look after each other quite a bit here and there too. Though it might be more than what it looks I guess.

I was going to ask you has Yusuf introduced you and Dave to his wife (if she exists)which would be the common thing to do in the West, but thought that would be rude!!

[Robyn]

Hi Katy - ask away, no questions out of bounds here! Eastern Turkey is conservative. But as a foreign woman, and an 'older' and obviously married woman at that, I am able to cross boundaries. Some local men are more comfortable with it than others. More on that in the post.
We did meet Yusuf's wife, very briefly as she was on her way back up to their apartment (we were hanging out in the shop with Yusuf and his son). She was surprised and, dare I say, a bit confused when she saw us.
It's complicated. I'll write about it. :-)

[Katy]

In spite of being foreign and 'older', you might find different reception without the company of Dave - ie not so 'obviously' married.

You met her but you weren't introduced to her, that's the difference.Perhaps she was thinking : "Not another two!" :-)

[Katy]

I do have another silly question actually (now I've been given the 'no questions out of bounds!) - in these poorer, rural regions -do they use mobile phones and home computers?

[Sui Yin]

menengic sounds heavenly, love the photos and write up. are you both still based in KL? .

[Ashlee]

Yum yum yum yum yum! That last drink sounds divine, I really want to try it.

[Robyn]

Katy - true (abt if I wasn't with Dave). The east is very traditional. Women are not much out and about. Mobile phones everywhere. Home computers not so much. But internet cafes. (Man zones.)

Sui Yin - we are based in KL and as I write this we've been back 3 days! We are on the road about 6 mos out of the year.

Ashlee - it's fabulous.

[Davide]

Can I ask you a detailed recipe for mirra?

I can't believe: I have been in mardin and fell in love with that cay evi, I always tell about it to anyone and now I found this post, I'm struggling for nostalgia.

It would be great to make mirra at home and share it with my friends and family.

Thanks a lot.

Davide

[Robyn]

Hi Davide -- small world! I love that cafe, and Mardin.
I found this article about mirra -- scroll down and there is a fairly detailed description of how it's made. Good luck!

http://maviboncuk.blogspot.com/2004/10/mirra-bitter-coffee-of-south-eastern.html