Tuesday, December 10, 2024

Coffee, "Elixir of the Gods"

 


"Legend has it that coffee was discovered in Ethiopia by a goat herder in the 11th century. He noticed that his goats became energetic and unable to sleep after eating the berries from a certain bush. News of the "magical" plant soon spread and it wasn't long before Arab traders were bringing the plants hoe and cultivating them, boiling the beans and drinking the resulting liquid. By the mid-15th century, the Ottoman Turks had brought coffee to Constantinople and before long, Italian traders had introduced it to the West. The first European coffee houses appeared around 1650."

So I read in the Viking river cruises cookbook in spring of 2024.

The article in that big, heavy cookbook which I did not carry home, ran to three pages. Some twenty countries' coffee culture were stated: 

Italians usually drink their coffee standing up. In Portugal, there is a coffee shop on every corner. In Sweden the word coffee is both an adjective and a noun.... it's a coffee break where you sit down with friends. Coffee is the essentially national drink in Norway. Germany is known for its kaffee und kuchen, or coffee and cake. 

Did you know that Starbucks was founded in Seattle...... at the Pike Place Market? How many of us today can say they've never had a Starbucks (coffee, tea, chocolate)????

No comments: