Last week William H. Ukers' quest took us to Asia, where we explored ancient and current coffee traditions in Arabia. Today we continue our research in the Asian continent, moving onto Turkey. Ukers cites a few references which gave comprehensive and detailed descriptions of traditional Turkish coffee houses. Even if only half of it was true, they must have been quite a sight and well worth the experience of wandering into one of these back in the days. As in Arabia, they were (and are) the places where men would gather for sipping coffee, talking and smoking, in days long gone enlightened with the additional entertainment by (live) music or traditional storytellers. Making and drinking the coffee were an art in itself, with the beans being roasted and ground at the spot. At first their tradition was very similar to that of the Arabians, but through time the Turkish developed their own method, by adding sugar to the boiling water, partly as a concession to the sweet tooth of European customers. After all, it is through their contacts with Turkey that Europeans became aware of coffee, being the plant, the seeds, the beverage as well as the coffee houses. Not only did the Europeans borrow the beverage, they also took the concept of the coffee houses and the word root from the Turkish (who in turn got it from the Arabs), back to their home countries. This at least is one explanation of how the words café and coffee started their conquest of the world. A full transcript of the book All About Coffee, by William H. Ukers has been made available as part of the Gutenberg project. This series is based upon Chapter 35, World's Coffee Manners and Customs.
1 Comment
This week we continue with our journey in the footsteps of William H. Ukers, moving from Africa on to Asia. We start off in Arabia, which Ukers states as having given the gift of coffee to the world. According to the writer, the Arabs hospitality evolves around coffee so much that "their very houses are built around the cup of humanly brotherhood", with the central room in a house being the kahwah or coffee room. It is the room where men get together and guests are received by said men. Coffee is roasted and ground at the spot and served black, in some instances flavoured with cardamom seeds, at all hours of the day. He continues saying that Arabs might drink water before having their coffee, but never after, as one "would not [want to] spoil the taste of coffee in your mouth by washing it away with water", which are words to my heart. He makes note of Cafée Sultan or kisher, the original beverage made from dried and toasted coffee hulls, which is still drank to this day in a few countries, like Arabia, Turkey and especially Yemen. Sometimes it is made just by using the husks of the coffee beans, other customs include letting it simmer for a long time with the addition of spices like ginger, cardamom and/or nutmeg. As far as I could gather, coffee still plays a central role in everyday life in Saudi Arabia, with the centuries-old intricate ceremonies of preparing and serving it still being honoured. The men, though, may be found more often in dedicated coffee houses these days. And just so you know, if you ever happen to visit Arabia, it is very rude to refuse a cup of coffee when presented to you, and if you do have a cup, be polite and have an odd number. A full transcript of the book All About Coffee, by William H. Ukers has been made available as part of the Gutenberg project. This series is based upon Chapter 35, World's Coffee Manners and Customs.
Knowing coffee has been around for a couple of hundred years already, it will come as no surprise that there are numerous traditions regarding roasting, brewing and serving it around the world. Browsing the world wide web for some information regarding these different customs, I stumbled across a book that was written nearly a century ago: All About Coffee, by William H. Ukers. With this book as a starting point, we'll kick off a short series with an overview of some of these habits, and we will start in the continent which holds the cradle of coffee: Africa. We have already touched upon a few of the African traditions, more specifically the century-old rituals in Ethiopia and the less widespread use I got to know while living in Tanzania, both customs already encountered by W. H. Ukers almost 100 years ago. He continues describing Moorish cafés in Cairo, Tunis and Algiers, where mazagran was served, a sweetened cold coffee syrup to which cold water or ice was added. It is unsure whether this coffee preparation has survived the test of time as the only direct reference to mazagran I found was a Portuguese cold coffee beverage, which also had lemon juice mixed into it. There are of course numerous iced coffee drinks available all around the world, but none of them were referred to as mazagran. W. H. Ukers travelled widely to do research for his book, and some of the sights he encountered still exist today, though in a slightly changed version, like the coffee houses which he describes elaborately. Though people may no longer sit on mats when drinking their coffee, these cafés still serve as meeting places where people linger over their cup(s) of coffee while discussing the more and less important matters of life. A full transcript of the book All About Coffee, by William H. Ukers has been made available as part of the Gutenberg project. This series is based upon Chapter 35, World's Coffee Manners and Customs.
Arabica coffee finds its origin in Ethiopia and throughout the centuries Ethiopians have developed a true coffee ceremony which is passed down from generation to generation. This ceremony is an integral part of their social and cultural life, and is considered a crucial part of friendship and respect. Traditionally the coffee ceremony takes place three times a day - in the morning, at noon and in the evening. It provides an opportunity within the village to share news, exchange gossip and discuss community, politics, life, etc. Usually the ceremony is conducted by a young woman, dressed in a traditional Ethiopian white dress. She starts by spreading fresh, aromatic grasses and/or flowers on the floor, and begins burning incense to ward off evil spirits. Then she continues by washing the raw coffee beans to remove the husks and other debris. Next the beans are roasted in a flat pan over a small charcoal stove, after which they are ground using a mortar and pestle. This ground coffee is transferred to a jebena, a traditional coffee pot, which is then filled with water and placed on a fire, where its contents is brought to a boil. This brewed coffee is poured into a decanter and cooled, then poured back into the jebena and brought to a boil again. This process is repeated once more. Then a filter is placed in the spout of the jebena to seperate the grounds from the coffee when it is poured. This pouring is a whole ritual in itself: the jebena is held about 30 cm above neat rows of delicate china cups, in which the coffee is poured in a single stream, ideally filling each cup without breaking the stream of coffee. And though this ceremony sounds pretty simple and straightforward, it can easily take up a few hours, no matter the time of day. One thing to remember, when invited to take part in this ceremony, it is impolite to retire until you have consumed at least three cups, as the third is considered to bestow a blessing.
In a lot of countries, it is custom to offer visitors a cup of coffee, be it freshly brewed from ground coffee, instant coffee or made with one or the other (N)espresso machine. In some countries however, it's not the beverage, but the coffee beans that are offered. Before I came to work in China, I worked in Tanzania for three years, and it was there that I first came into contact with this habit of the Wahaya, one of the tribes in Kagera where I was located. Apparently the coffee beans are first boiled with grass or herbs and then dried. They then chew the coffee beans for family exchanges, ritual offerings and as snack, and they offer them to visitors. It's a habit I grew to like and I still do it at the office. |
AuthorI wouldn't be surprised to find out I was born with a passion for coffee. For the life of me, I can't remember not loving coffee. And by that, I don't just mean drinking it, but everything involved from its cultivation over the processing to the final product that is my loyal companion throughout the day. Archives
February 2014
Categories
All
|
|