[Sca-cooks] El drama del medieval café?
Suey
lordhunt at gmail.com
Fri Apr 28 11:57:06 PDT 2006
Many thanks for all the messages on the drama of medieval coffee. First,
the term Arab is mistakingly used to describe the
Suey wrote:
>
> >> The Arabs had coffee, they had cups, not sure about saucers, and they
> >> had sugar. They had spoons for liquids and semi-liquids. They did not
> >> use knives or forks. Now at the medieval dinner we are planning we
> >> are having a problem finding wooden soup spoons for the first course
> >> but when it comes to the coffee how can the guests stir it after
> >> adding the sugar?
>
Many thanks for all the suggestions. First I must admit when speaking of
the term "Arab" or "Hispano-Arab" is misued when speaking of the Islamic
invaders/settlers in Spain who essentially were Berbers, Serians and
Persians. The dinner being planned is based on Hispano-Islamic food
before Columbus, which unfortunately encompases Al-Andalus and Catalan
food between the 13th-15th centuries because I am the speaker. We know
Averroes was using coffee as medicine during the 12th in Seville and
coffee began to be brewed in the 14th Century. Due to Spain's close ties
with Morocco and Baghdad, I think it very likely that Spain had brewed
coffee by 1470 which is when my lecture ends. Next this dinner is taking
place in Chile so brewing Arab coffee is no problem. As far stirring
one's coffee with a finger that is out of the question due to Alfonso
X's /Siete Partidas/ published in the 14th Century in which he dictates
proper table manners. As there are some people who do not like sugar in
their coffee, I think preparing sugared coffee would not be the trick.
Personally, in all the oriental countries I have visited I have never
been served presugared coffee. Anne-Marie's suggestion of serving an
almond cookie with the coffee which can be used to stir it is perfect as
it is a custom in this country to serve a sweet or cookie with coffee.
As far as knives and forks go Christians at this time thought the Bible
prohibited that meat and animal products could not be conveyed to the
mouth with metal. By the 15th century at least the fruit fork existed in
Spain because fruit comes from a plant or tree. Now I have just answered
my own question. Metal spoons can be used for coffee as it is comes from
a plant! Knives, by the way, were not used because the Spanish carvers
received specific instructions on the art of carving meat into bit size
pieces by 1425 at least thanks to Enrique de Villena's /The Art of Carving.
/Sue/
/
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