Experiencing the habits and customs of different cultures is something I enjoy very much. Food and drinks are one of the things that speak a lot about a country. Today I enjoyed a delicious coffee prepared Lebanese style. Join me in the following lines of my post to see what this type of coffee is all about and some of its curiosities that make it so particular.
At home, it is our custom to consume coffee in the Italian style. It is something we adopted from my husband. We prepare our coffee in the Moka pot, so we are accustomed to strong and full-bodied coffee, but today we drink coffee prepared in the Arabian style, which is prepared very differently from the Italian.
To prepare coffee in the Arabian style the coffee should be ground at the moment of use and have to be very finely ground. The appearance of the ground coffee should be similar to flour or talcum powder. When the coffee beans are ground some cardamom seeds are added. It gives an exquisite aroma.
A copper or metal container called "rakwe" is used to prepare the coffee. In this container the coffee and water are added, and placed over medium heat. The traditional way is on a plate with hot sand, in contact with the "Rakwe" is the one that transmits the heat to the water.
Once the coffee boils and the foam begins to rise, it is removed from the fire. At this moment, you can add a little more coffee and water and put it back on the fire until it boils again and remove it again. This procedure is done three times. For the baristas trained under the Italian current, this way of making coffee makes it burn, but in reality, it is what gives a strong flavor to this beverage.
Before serving the coffee, it should be left to rest for a few minutes since the ground coffee should descend to the bottom of the "rakwe".
Arabian-style coffee is strong, that is why it is served in cups called "finjān", whose capacity does not exceed 3 ounces. Usually, no sugar is added but this depends on the taste of the diner.
When serving the coffee, the "rakwe" should not be shaken, so that when all the beverage has been consumed you can see the coffee grounds at the bottom.
To balance the bitter taste of coffee, you can accompany it with some delicious sweets based on filo dough with lots of nuts and dried fruit dipped in honey 😋😋😋😋
I confess you, I consider myself a neophile, especially with food and beverages. Coffee has not escaped my curiosity, so I will continue to experiment with this liquid gold!
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I should taste the dried fruit dipped in honey. It looks delicious.
Thanks for sharing 💪
Cheers!
Ritch
Hi @ritch,
It's a surprise to see you here. These sweets are divine, the phyllo dough is so delicate that these sweets melt in your mouth. Thanks for visiting my post, greetings!
That looks and sounds very similar to Turkish coffee. I have never tried Arabian or Turkish style myself but have always been intrigued by it. You make me want to go out and hunt down a rakwe. Lol
It does look like strong coffee, which I like generally.
Enjoy!
Hi @leaky20,
Yes indeed, Turkish and Arabian coffee are prepared almost the same, the difference is that the Arabian coffee is flavored with cardamom. This is a strong coffee similar to a ristretto since it has a slightly acid taste due to the several times the liquid is boiled with the coffee powder.
I see. Interesting and good to know. I've never tried coffee with cardamom but I would like to.
Hello @chaodietas
That's a brilliant idea with the cardamon seeds. I've never had them in my coffee, so I think grinding the two would be a completely new experience for me.
I honestly wish I could reach in for some of those snacks through the computer screen, especially the pistachio ones.
It's all so tempting, and if I was sitting next to them, they would disappear like magic:)))
Well, to be fair, it would be 'magic' if you could reach through the screen.
Hey milly, how's it goin?
Hehehe @lordtimoty
I'm doing well....just trying to stay sane despite the weather being so crazy. It was scorching hot like summer, then it was wet and grey the next...But I'm good though:)
How are you?
Hey Hey;
Also doing well - weather here has been odd too. We're in Winter mode, but where we are, Winter isn't usually too bad; last week we had 'polar winds' coming through - and it was freezing, but then today we did our beach walk in shorts. So there you go!
Sunday night here, got another two weeks until I'm on holidays. Feel like that's a manageable enough chunk to smash out - until then, have a good one.
Tim
Hi @millycf1976,
The aroma of coffee with cardamom is particular, it makes the coffee flavor intense in the aftertaste. It is a wonderful experience of flavor and aroma. I knew you would like those candies, they are very rich but if you notice they have a small size because they are bathed in a lot of honey and with a couple of them you get cloyed.
Ah, I didn't know that about the sweets. I think I might have had something similar to eat when I lived in the Philippines. They call them "Food of the Gods". I think they're the perfect for a quick coffee chat with friends (a little at a time, but they are so more-ish😋)
What a brilliant insight into the Lebanesse style of coffee making. I thoroughly enjoyed this, and feel smarter for reading. Go figure you'd boil it three times!
Tim
Hi @lordtimoty,
Yes, this is a very curious way of preparing coffee, it makes the flavor intense and with a slight citric touch. Thank you very much for stopping by.
Is it like Turkish coffee?
Hi @razack-pulo,
Yes, however, Lebanese style coffee is characterized by being flavored with cardamom.
This way of preparing coffee has always intrigued me :D
I thought that just rubbing the rakwe with sand would heat it up, but as you say it's hot sand haha.
This is a delicacy I want to try. Thank you very much for sharing.
Hi @fabian98,
Yes I thought so too but the sand makes the heat evenly warm the rakwe. I'm glad you liked my post. 😃☕️
Seems like a good idea to try Drink Arabic coffee because I've never tried it, Maybe if I get a chance I'll try to drink Arabic coffee someday 😁
I hope you can do it!