Coffee is said to have originated in Ethiopia. Today Ethiopian coffee ceremonies are common after large meals, even at restaurants. Women will roast beans in front of the guests. Then she’ll grind the beans, perfuming the room, and brew them in a clay coffee pot, or jebena. The coffee is served in small cups called si’ni. Diners have their choice of salt or sugar.
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| 4 people |
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Coffee is said to have originated in Ethiopia. Today Ethiopian coffee ceremonies are common after large meals, even at restaurants. Women will roast beans in front of the guests. Then she’ll grind the beans, perfuming the room, and brew them in a clay coffee pot, or jebena. The coffee is served in small cups called si’ni. Diners have their choice of salt or sugar.
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Ingredients
- 1/4 cup green coffee beans – OR –
- 4 Tbsp coffee grounds
Accompaniment
- popcorn kernels (popped)
Servings: people
Units:
Instructions
To prepare the coffee
- Wash the coffee beans in cool water. Pick through them like just like you would any other bean, removing any yucky looking specimens. They are very small.
- Pour off extra water and roast the beans in pan over medium/medium-low until popping and dark brown. Stir continuously with a wooden skewer or keep shaking the pan. Do not use a nonstick pan. At first the moisture will steam off…then the pan will dry out and the beans will start turning golden brown… keep stirring until dark brown and beginning to pop.
- Grind the beans. In urban parts of Ethiopia, restaurants now use coffee grinders, although traditional ceremonies continue to grind the beans by hand.
To cook:
- Next? In Ethiopia they use a jebena, or special clay coffee pot to brew the coffee. In a pinch, simply brew the coffee as you normally would. Some suggest that for every tablespoon of coffee grounds, you use 1 cup of water. I found this to be rather weak – not very suitable for Ethiopian coffee. Play around with works for you. Leave your recommendations in the comments.
- Also, when you go to pour the coffee, you should try and pour it from very high up – maybe 8-10 inches. This traditional method makes a beautiful stream of dark coffee into the mug.
- Be sure to serve in small cups with tons of sugar, a smile, and… oh, yes… popcorn.