Learn about the types of coffee in the Emirates

The President of the Sharjah Institute for Heritage, Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Musallam, began his speech during sessions held in Madrid and Cordoba, entitled “The Journey of Arabic Coffee,” within the activities of “Sharjah Literary Days” organized by the Sharjah Book Authority, in cooperation with the “House Arab” in Spain, about the role of coffee. In Arab culture, it is considered a symbol of generosity.

He said that there is a special profession for those who prepare coffee called (qahwaji), so after the announcement of the union of the United Arab Emirates in the year 1971, coffee was placed on the dirham, in confirmation of the UAE’s pride in this symbol.

He added: “The Emirati dirham carries one of the shapes and types of dallah known in the Arab region, which is the Qurayshi dallah, which is made of copper, and earrings are placed on it like women’s earrings,” noting that the first dallah used in the Emirates historically was a dallah made of pottery, and it was made in Wadi Haqeel (Hajeel) in Ras Al Khaimah.

Regarding the types of coffee dal, Al-Muslim explained that there are three coffee dals in the Emirates, which is the large dal called the winery, because the coffee is brewed in it, the second dal is the dal, and the third is the taljima, in which flavorings are fed to the coffee, pointing to many coffee flavorings, including Saffron, cardamom, rose water, and cloves. To exaggerate, some tribes add agarwood to coffee, and it is then called (agarwood coffee).

He talked about what is known in Emirati Arabic coffee as a cup of coffee, which is to which several flavors are added. Rose water, saffron, cloves, cardamom, nutmeg, and coffee, indicating that the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, may God have mercy on him, asked for this cup and loved it.

Al-Musallam reviewed the names of coffee cups in Emirati traditions, saying: “We have names for coffee cups, including the guest cup, the kif cup, the sword cup, and the hayf cup, and all of them have stories linked to traditions,” and he added: “As for the customs of drinking coffee, especially for the guest, it is that it must He has to drink three cups, and it is shameful for him to return one of them, and after that, that is, the fourth cup, the guest can return it and apologize for drinking it.”

The activities of the “Sharjah Literary Days” in Spain witnessed a series of discussion sessions and knowledge seminars, which dealt with the extent of historical cultural exchange between Arabs and Spaniards. The “Days” brought together in both Madrid and Cordoba an elite group of writers, researchers and writers in open dialogues about the history of coffee in the region. Arabic and Spain, and the symbolism of water and its connotations in Andalusian literature.