President Sait Onal's Speech

Dear Friends,

Thank you for coming this evening to drink a cup of coffee with us.

Turkish Coffee nights will be a monthly gathering for Red Rose volunteers and friends in the community. Each month we will gather here at the Red Rose building and share our story with you. Each month will be a different activity but there will always be Turkish coffee.

As you will see this evening, sharing a cup of coffee means a lot more than what you would think in Turkish culture.

Drinking coffee is a unique pleasure for the Turks.

Accepting a cup of coffee is a source of pride to the person who offers it. This is illustrated in the Turkish expressions "His coffee can be drunk," and "I would drink a cup of your coffee".

Nothing compares to a long, friendly conversation over a cup of Turkish coffee, followed by having your fortune told.

A cup of Turkish coffee is endowed with a variety of important connotation for Turks: friendship, affection and sharing. This is best illustrated in the old saying: "A single cup of coffee can create a friendship that lasts for 40 years". Turkish coffee is such an intrinsic part of Turkish culture that it has given its name to the word for breakfast, "kahvalti", which translates as "before coffee", and is derived from the words "kahve" (coffee) and "alti" (before).

Serving a cup of Turkish coffee is also a way of sealing a friendship. The preparation and care taken by a host in serving Turkish coffee to his guests is an important aspect of hospitality. In Turkey, it is traditional for a prospective bride to serve coffee to her suitor and his family when they come to ask for her hand in marriage. One strong tradition dictates the typical (and also, to some extent, stereotypical) situation where the family of a young man visits the family of the bride-to-be to ask for their permission for their marriage. The girl whose hand is sought is supposed to bring coffee on a coffee tray, and traditionally this is the only time she has a say in the whole affair. The vote she casts is expressed in terms of how sweet the makes the coffee, ranging from extra sweet (a definite yes) to “no sugar” (a definite no), and at times to salty coffee, a step shorter than not appearing at all.

This tradition notwithstanding, to sweeten coffee with sugar is a relatively new usage (“new” considering a tradition of about four and a half centuries.). Turks used to drink their coffee without any sugar. Instead, it was customary to eat or drink something sweet either before or after the coffee, sweetened fruit juices known as sherbet, fruit preserves, Turkish delight, sultan’s paste, halva, or other confectionery.

Ever since the first coffeehouse opened in Istanbul in 1554, coffee has had a tremendous impact on art and culture. As coffee and coffeehouses became an integral part of social culture, coffee became the only drink in the world to have spawned a whole related culture. People came here throughout the day to read books and beautiful texts, play chess and backgammon and discuss poetry and literature.

Countless artists, students and teachers have come together in coffeehouses to read books, perform plays and hold lively discussions. This situation is not confined to Istanbul; throughout the world, coffeehouses serve as meeting points for intellectuals and coffee has long been the favorite drink of artists. For many years, coffee has been the chosen beverage of artists; for artists and thinkers such as Alexandre Dumas, André Gide, Molière, Victor Hugo, Honoré de Balzac, Voltaire, Ludwig van Beethoven and Immanuel Kant, coffee was much more than a drink: it was a lifestyle.

Coffee has served as a platform for friendship and conversation all over the world and has been a source of inspiration for many works of art.

Prepared in a cezve or "gügüm" (copper vessel) using the technique invented by the Turks, the drink became known as Turkish coffee.

As coffee became a staple in palace cuisine as well as in private homes, its consumption increased dramatically. The raw beans were roasted in pans and then ground in mortars. The coffee was then brewed in cezves and served with great care to esteemed friends.

Thanks to the efforts of merchants and travellers who passed through Istanbul, and even Ottoman ambassadors, Turkish coffee's renown soon spread to Europe and ultimately to the whole world.

This evening the Turkish coffee tradition has reached to our humble Red Rose building in Leola Pennsylvania. We are hopeful that the Turkish coffee will do its magic and help us connect here with you and many people through you. Let this friendship last 40 years and beyond.

We have samples of Turkish appetizers for you to taste and live Turkish music performed by our friends. You will also have an opportunity to learn how to make Turkish coffee. This evening could not have happened without the help of volunteers from Red Rose, so let’s give them a round of applause. You will have the chance to make friends that will hopefully last forever and check out the Turkish arts and crafts.

Let’s enjoy our evening. Again, thank you for being here to share in the rich Turkish culture.