Kahawa

KAHAWA

 

 

 

I was reflecting on the good old days in Pemba and Dar as I sat down with Manu to have a coffee at the weekend.  As I was sipping this coffee I suddenly wanted that kahwa from Tanzania. When I say Kahwa, it is not the Africafe or instant brew that is also called kahwa an Arablic/Swahili term for coffee (though Africafe is also delicious).  I wanted that copper kettle coffee that the street vendors used to sell in small ceramic cups (about the size of an espresso cup) or occasionally in  china saucers. This kahwa is Tanzania’s answer espresso; served hot, thick, dark roast and almost bittersweet taste mixed with the slight smokiness of the coals on which it is heated.

I can clearly see the kahwa vendor going door to door with his conical copper kettle that had a wooden handle to keep his fingers from burning.  At the bottom of this copper kettle there would be a tray on which he would have placed hot burning coals, all glowing red.  In the other hand he would carry a small portable rack that housed the cups and saucers which would clatter softly as he walked along the street.  The vendors have their regulars who eagerly awaited their kahwa and my dad was one of those regulars.  I often used to stand next to my dad and watch the kahwa being poured into the quickly rinsed out cup (non of that disposable stuff we use nowadays) and very often my dad let me have a taste of his kahwa.  As I grew up, married and moved to Dar, I often had the urge to drink the kahwa and so if the vendor passed by our store I would ask our assistant to call him in so I could (Manu would not touch the stuff)  have this shot of caffeine and be transported back to Pemba. I decided to open the packet of coffee that recently arrived from Tanzania and make the kahwa minus the copper kettle and coals.  I couldn’t quite manage to get the smokiness but the heady aroma of the dark roasted arablica beans lifted my spirits and for a moment I was back in Pemba, standing by my dad, watching the vendor pour us this dark divine liquid..

 

 

 

2 cups water

t tablespoons freshly ground coffee

In a sauce pan combine water and ground coffee and bring to boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer about 10  minutes. Turn the heat off and strain into cups. Serve hot.