“The History and Traditions of Arabic Coffee: From Ancient Brews to Modern Customs”

2023-05-30 13:08:01

Dubai, United Arab Emirates (CNN) — The coffee maker is among the ancient industries with a long history.

But, have you ever wondered what a coffee pot looked like in the past?

It was certainly not made of copper and iron.

Emirati photographer, Khaled Al Shehhi, documents one of the coffee estuaries used for more than 250 years, in Deira Al Sint, Ras Al Khaimah.

It is distinguished by the presence of a front opening and another upper opening in a circular shape.

It was made of white earth, known as Al-Yes, which was burned in a fire and kneaded, until it hardened.

Credit: Instagram/khaledleqyous

Al-Shehhi, who has been practicing photography for 29 years, said in an interview with CNN in Arabic: “Coffee is like an authentic style of hospitality among the Arabs.

Credit: Instagram/khaledleqyous

The discovery and spread of coffee in the Arab world has always been linked to the manufacture of the famous pot, whose shapes and names differ according to each country.

It is considered a major tool in preparing and pouring coffee, until it has become an essential part of our heritage and daily life, generation following generation.

The Abu Dhabi Culture website explained that the tools used to prepare coffee are collectively known as “mamil”, meaning the basket of wine.

It includes special equipment, the most important of which is the tawa, which is a wide round frying pan for roasting coffee beans, the mihmas, which is a spoon for stirring the coffee beans during roasting, and the mihbash, which is the iron tongs for placing embers and distributing them on the stove floor.

There are many types of signs that are used during the preparation and presentation of coffee, including:

  • Winery indication: A large pot to boil coffee and cardamom
  • feed index: Medium size pot for filtering coffee
  • The slippery slope: A small dallah used to serve coffee
Credit: Instagram/khaledleqyous

The traditions and etiquette of serving Arabic coffee

There are many special customs and etiquette that must be adhered to by servers, guest and host alike.

For example, the person who pours the coffee should hold the dallah in his left hand, with his thumb pointing up and hold the cup in his right hand.

One of the special etiquettes for the guest is to use his right hand to hold the cup and return it to the person who presented it to him.

Arabic coffee is served to the most important or oldest guest first. It is customary for the amount of coffee not to exceed a quarter of the cup.

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