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| 0563 Coffee pot maker in Bahrain |
It is believed that the coffee comes from Ethiopia, from where he arrived in the Arab world and then, through Ottoman Empire, in Europe. The earliest credible evidence of either coffee drinking or knowledge of the coffee tree appears in the middle of the 15th century, in Yemen. By the 16th century, it had reached the rest of the Middle East, Persia, Turkey, and northern Africa, then in Italy and in the rest of Europe, in Indonesia, and in Americas. In fact in English and other European languages the word coffee derives from the Ottoman Turkish kahve (via the Italian caffè), borrowed from the Arabic qahwah.
In Bahrain, the coffee, called Gahwa, is considered a part of the traditional welcome, and is bad manners and an insult to the host to refuse the first cup of coffee. It is usually poured into a coffee-pot, which is called dallah (always held with the left hand), and is served in a small cup, with no handles, called finjan. Drinking coffee being a habit so prevalent in Bahrain, as in all Islamic countries, where the alcoholic beverages are forbidden by the Qur'an, manufacturing the necessary utensils is also an old occupation, transformed by craftsmen into a true art.
About the stamps
The first stamp, depicting the King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, is part of a definitive series, about which I wrote here. The second stamp is part of the Arab Summit Conference 2003 set, about which I wrote here.
References
Coffee - Wikipedia
Bahraini cuisine - Wikipedia
Sender: Edwin G. Saliendra (direct swap)
Sent from Budaiya (Bahrain), on 03.02.2013
Photo: Falcon Cinefoto
I love this postcard!
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