Turkish Zarf & Russian Podstakannik A Turkish zarf is a holder, usually of ornamental metal, for a coffee cup without a handle. Coffee was served in small cups without handles, which were placed in holders known as zarf to protect the cup and also the fingers of the drinker from the hot fluid in Ottoman times. Cups were typically made of porcelain. However since it was the holder that was more visible, it was typically more heavily ornamented. A Russian podstakannik is a tea glass holder, most commonly made of metal with a handle. It is a traditional way of serving and drinking tea in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.
An Englishman who has lived in both New York and Istanbul, John Ash is one of the great masters of poetic clarity. His books on the Byzantine world and ancient Anatolia are widely admired for their elegance and candor. "These poems believe intensely in the world they bear witness to.so vividly do they believe in the happenstance they behold that at times they go for quiet, unemphatic ways of talking, perfectly registered" Rain Taxi.