Fika in Libya
The coffee and cake culture, fika, is a central part in Libyan culture. It is often the basis for hospitality which is immensely crucial. A guest is treated with more care than the family and the first thing that is served is coffee.
Men often drink coffee in cafés in the evening after they finish work. Most have catch-ups and casual conversations whilst others have important business meetings and use their coffee time to create a relaxing atmosphere for the meetings.
As for the women, they love to drink it together in both the morning and evening with guests and their coffee often contains cardamom and the majestic voice of Fairouz in the background. They brew the coffee in a Turkish coffee pot called a Bakraj and prepare some sweet treats such as Baklava, Basbousa, Kunafa or sometimes Turkish delights or chocolates. There are a range of Middle Eastern desserts that are often served with the coffee.
Libya is very influenced by many other Middle Eastern countries including Turkey, so there are no national rituals or codes to follow. One of the most well-known codes, which stems from Turkey, is that water is often served with the coffee and treats. If the guests drinks the coffee first, they are coming for a chat. If they drink the water before the coffee, it means they are hungry and lunch needs to be prepared for them.
Libya is also very influenced by Italian coffee and they have a great variety of different types of coffee in coffee shops and cafes. Therefore, you will need to be very precise on what type of coffee you would like when you are ordering. For example, if you would like to order an espresso, you need to know exactly what type of espresso you would like. The variety of the types of coffees in Libya really demonstrates how important the coffee culture is.
Thank you kindly to Ella Elhoudiri for this write-up and the pictures 🙏