Charting The Coffee Culture

Chef Kaviraj Khialani traces the interestingjourney of coffee beans from their chance discovery to their multiple uses, from being a simple stimulant to creating sensational desserts

The story of how coffee growing and drinking spread around the world starts in the Horn of Africa, in Ethiopia, where the coffee tree originated in the province of Kaffa. There are various stories surrounding the discovery of the properties of roasted coffee beans.

What we know with more certainty is that the succulent outer cherry flesh was eaten by slaves taken from present day Sudan into Yemen and Arabia, through the great port of it's day. Mocha was also the main port for the sea route to Mecca, and was the busiest place in the world at that time. But the Arabs had a strict rule and policy not to export any fertile beans so that coffee could not be cultivated anywhere else. The coffee bean is the seed of the coffee tree, but when stripped it becomes infertile.

The first coffee houses were started in Mecca, and were called 'kaveh kanes'. They quickly spread throughout the Arab world, and became successful places where chess was played, gossip exchanged and singing, music, and dance was enjoyed. Nothing quite like the coffee house had existed before a place where society and business could be conducted in comfortable surroundings.

Coffee comes to Asia

The Dutch also cultivated coffee at Malabar in India, and in 1699 took some to Batavia in Java, which is now Indonesia. Within a few years Dutch colonies had become the main suppliers of coffee to Asia. Today Indonesia is the fourth largest exporter in the world.

A global commodity

The importance of coffee in the world economy cannot be overstated. It is one of the most valuable primary products in world trade, in many years second in value only to oil as a source of foreign exchange to developing countries.

The commodity price of coffee is highly volatile. The key driving force behind the coffee price is what is happening in Brazil, by far the largest supplier of coffee to the world market. An ongoing concern of the world coffee community has been this 'boom and dust cycle', with unstable incomes for coffee growers, and fluctuating prices for the consumer.

What Is Caffeine?

Caffeine is a mild stimulant or an alkaloid also found in tea, colas, cocoa and chocolate, some pharmaceutical drugs etc. Caffeine is said to boost the body's general metabolism having the effect of increasing alertness and assisting concentration

The only proven negative health effect of coffee is linked to a specific way of making coffee. In Scandinavia, it was traditional to boil coffee and to leave the coffee pot stewing on the heat for many hours. The effect of over bailing coffee in this manner is to increase the extraction of certain oils, which raise the level of blood cholesterol, and this has been linked to a higher incidence of heart disease and cancer.

Culinary uses

Coffee is a popular beverage and is served at various coffee bars and bistros around the world. From piping hot espressos with varieties like solo-plain dark, macchiato with a dollop of foamed milk to con panna-with a topping of whipped cream the coffee shop business has almost an endless variety. Among the most preferred coffees are the Americano, Italiano, and Cappuccino as well as cold coffee shakes topped with flavoured syrups and chocolate shavings.

Coffee is also widely used while making cookies, cakes and speciality desserts such as coffee mousse, soufflé, trifles, confectionery creams, icings, and decorative garnishes.