The Art of Arabic Coffee
Robert W. Lebling
Medina Ilyas.
Medina Publishing, 2022.
The ceremony of serving Arabic coffee (qahwa) amounts to a ritual of “connecting … to share stories, a delicious drink and a warm experience,” author Ilyas notes. Arabic coffee comes in many forms, and Ilyas, a coffee connoisseur, spent 15 years researching and collecting recipes throughout the Middle East. As she traipsed across the region, Ilyas explored a variety of coffee cultures, from sipping traditional Bedouin iterations in Oman to partaking at modern cafes of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The resulting book features tips on how to extract the most flavorful coffee, plus an array of recipes, coffee-serving rituals and other valuable “tricks.” (Ilyas also explores Arabic coffee’s purported health benefits, from giving an energy boost to potentially reducing the risk of Type 2 diabetes.) Offering a treasure trove of information, this book is a win for both coffee devotees and anyone who simply wants to better understand coffee’s place in Arab culture.
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