Coffee: legend and tradition in LA MIA AFRICA: 7 ANNI DI ETIOPIA by Gentile Polo

From 20 August to 02 September 2018, at the new detached FoyEr Space of Estroteatro Villazzano we talk about Ethiopia with the artist Dear Polo and the exhibition MY AFRICA: 7 YEARS OF ETHIOPIA.

Ethiopia is home to coffee and one of the largest producers.

coffee berries (Photo: Gentile Polo)

“There is a local legend that Kaldi lived in Kaffa, a young shepherd who was the son of a sage and an old good man.” Every day the young man tidied the house and led the goats to pasture.

One day Kaldi awoke from a nap grazing and saw one of the goats jumping and dancing and he thought he was still asleep so rubbed his eyes, but the animal continued undeterred.

The shepherd boy returned to the hearth, asking himself if the strange phenomenon would be repeated the next day. Impatient, the next morning he got up even earlier than usual and led the goats to graze as usual and began to keep an eye on the animal, but nothing happened throughout the morning.

The hour came when the tiredness caught him and if it had not been stronger, the curiosity would surely have fallen asleep as usual. So it was that he saw from the corner of his eye the dancing goat head gluttonous towards a bush of red berries

It was not long before the animal began to dance happily as the previous day, and others, who had followed her to the bush, soon imitated her.

Intrigued, Kaldi tasted the berries and finding them pleasant continued to eat until all the fatigue was less and felt pervaded with great energy.

In the evening he confided in the wise father and began to sell it to the villagers who benefited in turn from the effects and the young pastor earned so much to become the owner of his own flock.

The fame of Kaffa berries flared up and spread everywhere, until the white men who came there asked for what that delicacy was and, having known that they were berries (in Amharic, bunna) of Kaffa, they called it Caffè. “(Studies taken from ANNALISA ADDIS, CSAS – Center for African Studies in Sardinia)

From this legend comes the tradition of the “Coffee Ceremony” in Ethiopia, a welcome ritual that involves all the senses.

The traditional ceremony provides that the landlady extends a mat of goosgwaze leaves, very fragrant, to recreate a natural setting and lights up in a brazier of incense.

 Coffee toasting in Ethiopia. (Photo: Gentile Polo)

Then toast the freshly washed grains and let the aroma spread to the guests.

Toasting follows the slow manual grinding in a small mortar, the mukecha, to obtain a coffee powder that is poured into a terracotta coffee pot (jebena) for the infusion with hot water until the classic boiling.

To cool the coffee, it is poured into another container and then back into the jebena because the coffee does not have to cool completely:

“Following an ancient proverb that says:” coffee and love are best enjoyed when they are hot “(Quaderno LVIA” Ecotourism on the roads of coffee “)

The coffee is filtered (originally a horsehair filter was used) from the coffee grounds and poured into cups without handles (spiers) filled to the brim, as a symbol of complete hospitality, and served starting from the oldest guest.

After the first lap, the landlady adds more water to the previous funds and repeats the procedure until a third time, if the guests request it.

“… the first round is called Awel in Tigrin, the second in Kole’i and the third bereke (blessed).” (from THE MAGIC OF THE CEREMONY OF THE CAFFE ‘ETIOPE, by Fabrizio Rinaldi, 24.03.2017)

Intrigued?

For the lucky ones who will attend the opening of the exhibition: MY AFRICA: 7 YEARS OF ETHIOPIA by the Rotaliano Gentile Polo artist of Friday 24 August 2018 will be told by his friend Zebenay the “Coffee Ceremony” showing the original coffee not roasted and the Ethiopian tools to perform it!

The event will be followed by buffets and vernissages, with the opportunity to meet the artist and question him about his work as a painter and volunteer active in Africa.

So we are waiting for you in LA MIA AFRICA: 7 ANNI DI ETIOPIA (My Africa: 7 years of Ethiopia) by the artist Gentile POLO Friday, 24 August from 6.00 pm at the new Spazio FoyEr in Estroteatro in Trento center (Via Galileo Galilei 26, Tn – Italy), a few meters from Venece Square. (Public parking near: Piazza Fiera).

(Lucia Martorelli – Gentile Polo Art Studio)