Arabic Coffee

First, tell me, is it Arab coffee, Arabian coffee, or Arabic coffee? I think Arabic refers to the language and Arabian sounds like horses, so I'm always stumbling over what the correct adjective might be. I really should look that up before I write but it's before work and I want to write this down before I start thinking about something else.

I don't know if any of you remember my raving about how good Dona Tina's coffee was? She ran a small restaurant in Tulum, Quintana Roo, Mexico. Hers was the first coffee I had consciously registered as having spices added, and it was dark and delicious. It was flavored with cardamon. My mind wanders to the realization that there might have been a Middle Eastern connection there, that the Yucatan Peninsula is an area of great diversity of origins. Digression: I brought Gary Nabhan's book, Arab/American: Landscape, Culture, and Cuisine in Two Great Deserts, and Dona Tina's coffee is reminding me of the diversity written about in this book.

So here I am, in the UAE catching whiffs of coffee with spices and thinking about what I've read about the coffee shops in the Middle East and their wonderful coffee. Unfortunately, I can't drink coffee past about noon so I haven't had a chance to try it from a cafe but I am trying to make it at home.

As I've said before, it's Ramadan right now. This is a huge food time for Muslims with daily Iftars and other food-focused events. So the supermarkets have displays of special foods. I was perusing a display at the Lulu's market and a container of coffee caught my eye. I'm almost out of the Olympia Coffee Roasting Co.'s coffee that I brought so I've been aware of needing to buy more. What will it be, Costa or Starbucks? Well, I decided to get a package of Al-Alwani Arabic coffee (there, it's Arabic coffee, on the package, I have my answer) flavored with cardamon and saffron. Sounds exotic, don't you think? But when I opened it, the color really put me off. It's pale, almost yellow (saffron, of course) and it's very finely ground, almost a fluffy texture which reminded me of instant coffee. So I was not really sure about this stuff. I tried it once and was still put off, perhaps the saffron? If you don't have one of their coffee makers (I don't know yet what these look like) it's prepared by putting a water in a small sauce pan adding a measured amount of the coffee, and sugar if preferred sweet, heating it to a point where foam rises, turning it down, then repeating the foaming and bringing back, twice more, then letting it settle out a bit before pouring into cups. Yes, there's sludge on the bottom, you just don't drink it. After trying it once, and telling my neighbors, Tim and Liz about it, Tim told me that the grocery right down the street has coffee beans and they probably add spices and grind it there, too. Sure enough, I went to the Abu Dhabi Cooperative Society grocery and there were four colors of coffee beans, two levels of light colored beans which were called Arabic, and two levels of dark referred to as Turkish. I chose the darker of the Arabic and asked to have cardamon added. The guy scooped up some beans, threw in some very large pinches of cardamon (me thinking, no, no, too much!) and asked me how I wanted it ground. At that point language barriers became apparent as I said less fine and he said more fine and neither of us understood the other. I bought this huge bag for less than 10 Dirhams (less than $2.72). That's what I'm drinking this morning. Unfortunately, as I was writing this, the coffee boiled rather than just bringing it to foaming. Making Arabic coffee is something that should be done while paying attention, no multi-tasking allowed. I will try again tomorrow when I am not getting ready for work. (Tomorrow is the beginning of our weekend and also the start of our Eid holiday which includes having the entire week off from work! And it's another food holiday. I think I'm in my element!)

As I learn more about this coffee, I will let you know. Now, off to work!