ABSTRACT

Coffee was introduced into Turkey from the Arab world in the sixteenth century. After a long period of controversy regarding the permissibility of coffee under religious law, it became a staple of everyday life. Numerous coffeehouses offered not only coffee but also various forms of entertainment. From Istanbul coffee drinking and the café spread northwest to Vienna and thence to Paris. Always fond of picturesque locales for eating and drinking, the Turks have a particular claim to fame as the originators of the café, one of the most widespread social institutions of modern times.