Friday 9 August 2019

Turkish Traditions


Throughout the years we have blogged about Turkish traditions. As expats, it took us a while to get used to them, we now know them but they still are exotic :)


I've listed this table in our Home shop. It is called a sofra in Turkish, it is a floor table. Traditionally there were no normal tables in Turkish homes. A  wooden piece like this or just a round ring would be put on the floor, then a large piece of cloth and on top of that a circular tray with all the food brought in from the kitchen. We have one of those as well in the shop.


Soup gets served in bowls but all the other food is eaten directly from the pans, no one gets a plate. Bread is crucial at the Turkish sofra, a Turk does not feel full without bread :) And plates get al cleaned up with bread. The cloth is where everyone 'goes under', the cloth covers the legs and prevents crumbs to fall on the floor, it is a big sin to step on bread so this is a precaution for that as well as an easy cleanup.


The sofra has no limit on how many people can sit around it. Those that are full get up and those who come later can slide right in. Surprise guests are normal. No chairs mean just sitting a little closer when it gets crowded. The sofra is now seen as the poor's table, they say that you get full quicker as your stomach get suppressed by sitting in such a position. When the meal is over the sofra is hung on the wall, occupying no floor space.


Our sofra is pretty unique, it has hand-painted and torched details. Would look great in a bohemian home with floor cushions.


Nowadays sofra's are made of MDF with collapsable plastic legs, not so pretty, or you even have them entirely made out of plastic :(


3 comments:

  1. Great story! There are so many possibilities to use such a table. It will look great on top of usual table for cake display. And between legs you can place cutlery ... Great item.

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  2. Thank you for sharing stories in Turkey.

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  3. that's very interesting!
    and it's a pretty cool table too! Would be cool for people on the minimalistic side of life, as you don't need chairs. And low furniture means also more visual space ^^

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