I love coffee. Coffee is life. Let’s be clear about that. To me, coffee drinking is just as much a rite of passage as say, your first beer. Or a glass of wine. It is an adult beverage. Youngsters can drink it, of course. But it takes time to learn about its intricacies. One must have experience to know that all coffees are not alike. And while each one has its own style and personality, you will not like them all.Most of us admit that we can’t function without a good cup of fragrant coffee in the morning. We cherish our favourite brew like liquid gold and wrinkle our noses at the thought of burnt beans. But when it comes to cooking with coffee we tend to leave our grounds on the shelf.
Our modern diet leans heavily on salty and sweet flavour profiles, with sour and umami flavours (umami is savoury – often described as brothy or meaty and is found in foods like miso or mushrooms) occasionally being added in an attempt to balance it all out. Coffee on the other hand falls squarely into the bitter category. Without understanding how a balance of bitter flavours can improve a dish we tend to leave it out of our recipes and never even consider adding it to our spice rack.
It doesn’t have to be that way though. Isn’t it about time we found some new ways to enjoy our favourite caffeine fix?
I love coffee in India and Nepal and blog its importance for many years .Ethiopia is widely considered to be the epicentre of where coffee came from. If you’ve ever googled “coffee history”, you will have come across the famous story of how coffee was founded in Ethiopia by Kaldi, an Ethiopian goat herder, around 800 AD.
He wandered over to his goats to see them acting very strangely. They were energised and excited after eating some berries from a tree. After trying the berries himself, and also feeling excitable and alert, Kaldi took these berries to a monk.
The monks exclaimed that it was the work of the devil and threw the berries into the fire. In doing so, a beautiful, heavenly aroma was released and the berries were quickly raked from the fire and crushed into embers. Realising their mistake, the berries were then placed into a jug and covered with hot water for preservation.
The monks then went on to drink this lovely new concoction, only to realise it helped them stay awake during nightly devotions and prayers.
Of course, this is probably just a wonderful legend and the history of coffee is more likely to lie with the Oromo/Galla people, from a nomadic tribe.
As it’s thought that coffee originated in Ethiopia, it’s also believed it made its way north, across the red sea into Yemen in the 15th Century. It then started to be grown here in the Yemeni district of Arabia, and by the 16th century it was known in Persia, Egypt, Syria, and Turkey.
It was immensely popular for its qualities to help improve alertness and wakefulness, allowing people to devote more time to spiritual matters and praying.
The world’s first coffee house was opened in Constantinople in 1475, now known as Istanbul. Coffee was drunk at home as part of the daily routine, as well as to show hospitality to guests. Outside of the home, people visited coffee houses to not only drink coffee but to engage in conversation, listen to music, watch performers, play chess, gossip and catch up on news. Without the modern technologies we have today, coffee houses quickly became the epicentre for exchanging and gaining information. They were often referred to as “Schools of the Wise.”
And with thousands of pilgrims visiting Mecca each year from all over the world, knowledge of this “wine of Araby”, which it quickly became referred to, began to spread.
Then the course of coffee history begins to change. This exotic beverage certainly caused a stir for European travellers who were filled with intrigue and fascination. So, by the 17th century, coffee had made its way to Europe and became increasingly popular across the continent.
European coffee history begins in Italy, where it was imported from the Ottoman Empire. In particular, Venetian merchants contributed to the widespread popularity of coffee in European regions and in 1645, the first ever European coffee house was opened in Venice. Drinking coffee became a great commodity, especially for wealthy people.
Through the Dutch East India Company and British East India Company, coffee also became very popular in England. The first coffee house in England opened in Oxford in 1651 and many others quickly popped up, particularly in London. Coffee houses were strictly for men only, where they could discuss business and news, as well as socialise. It is said that many business ventures and ideas started in London coffee houses.
Coffee was then introduced to Paris, France in 1669 by Suleyman Aga, the ambassador to the court of King Louis XIV of France. He was armed with bags of coffee described as a “magical beverage”. Only two years later in 1671, an Armenian who went by the name Pascal, opened a coffee-drinking booth at the fair of St.-Germain. Visitors very quickly learned to look for the “petit noir" a name that still endures. This marked the beginning of Parisian coffee houses, which of course, inspired coffee houses to open across France.
Over the next 30 years, coffee became cultural staples in Austria, Germany, Spain, and the rest of Europe. However, growing coffee in Europe was a struggle, due to its naturally colder climates. European traders would later start to grow coffee elsewhere.
