Expert: Le Anne Clausen - 11/1/2007

Question
Hello,
For a school assignment, I have to know everything about the rituals of drinking arabian coffee. Do you know anything about it? I am especially interested in the preparation, drinking and the ritual itself.
Thanks in advance,
Luuk schipperheyn

Answer
Greetings Luuk, and thanks for your question.  What a neat assignment!  First of all, you bring coffee to your guests as soon as possible after they are seated.  Coffee signals the beginning and the end of a visit--if they dropped in unexpectedly and you need to go somewhere, you bring the second round of coffee right after the first and they know it's not a good time to visit.  Otherwise, you sip the first cup slowly, and bring another towards the end.  

It's produced with cardamom, in an open pot called an ibrik on the stove.  You use a spoon of coffee for each cup, and it is powdered rather than coarsely ground.  You have to watch it carefully--first boil the water, then add the coffee, which will cause the water to bubble over, so you lift the ibrik when it's about to spill, stir the mixture together, then re-boil and repeat.  Once the foam turns color, it's ready to serve.  Some people prefer sweet coffee; others plain.  There is a funeral and farewell coffee that is served extra-bitter.  

Coffee, as with food, is brought to the mouth by the right hand.  If you'd like a refill, you may hold it for the host to pour again; otherwise, you shake the cup lightly when they offer to say you've had enough.  Usually some other treat like wafer cookies or fruit is also served.  This is pretty much the same ritual whether you are extremely wealthy or dirt poor, and if you live in a city apartment or a bedouin tent!

You may like to look at some of these sites that I found on Google.  

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGIC,GGIC:2006-51,G...

Otherwise, to quote anything I've written, just note it as an interview and use the description on the page where you ask me your questions.

Good luck!  Hope this helps!

peace,

Le Anne