Cezve

A cezve (Turkish: cezve, pronounced [dʒezˈve]; Serbo-Croatian: džezva / џезва; Arabic: جِذوَة), also ibriki/briki (Greek: μπρίκι) or srjep (Armenian: սրճեփ), is a small long-handled pot with a pouring lip designed specifically to make Turkish coffee. It is traditionally made of brass or copper, occasionally also silver or gold. In more recent times cezveler are also made from stainless steel, aluminium, or ceramics.

Name

The name cezve is of Turkish origin, where it is a borrowing from Arabic: جِذوَة (jadhwa or jidhwa, meaning 'ember').

The cezve is also known as an ibrik, a Turkish word from Arabic إبريق (ʿibrīq). This term was loaned from medieval Eastern Aramaic forms in ʾaḇrēqā, and originated in New Persian *ābrēž (cf. Farsi ābrēz), from Middle Persian *āb-rēǰ, ultimately from Old Persian *āp- 'water' + *raiča- 'pour' (New Persian ریختن [rêxtan]).[1][2]

Other variants are briki, rakwa, túrka (Турка) in Russian and kanaka.

In Modern Hebrew, it is called a finjan (פינג'אן). Arabic coffee is commonly consumed in Israel,[3] but in the Arab world, فِنْجَان finjān always refers to the cup, not the pot in which it is prepared. The semantic shift may have originated with Jews of the Yishuv, who did not speak fluent Arabic, misunderstood the equipment used by Palestinians in Nazareth, who served them coffee.[4]

Variations

In Bulgaria, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Czechia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia, the cezve is a long-necked coffee pot. In Turkish an ibrik is not a coffee pot, but simply a pitcher or ewer.

See also

References

  1. ^ Steingass, Francis Joseph (1992). A Comprehensive Persian-English Dictionary: Including the Arabic Words and Phrases to be Met with in Persian Literature, Being, Johnson and Richardson's Persian, Arabic, and English Dictionary, Revised, Enlarged, and Entirely Reconstructed. Asian Educational Services. ISBN 978-81-206-0670-8. page 8.
  2. ^ Arabic in Context: Celebrating 400 years of Arabic at Leiden University. BRILL. 6 June 2017. ISBN 9789004343047.
  3. ^ The complete travel guide for Israel, p. 209
  4. ^ Miri Tzel Donati (December 10, 2010). "על כוס קפה" [On a cup of coffee]. Ynet (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2025-06-05.

Sources