AFRICA
"Attaya" - Senegalese Friendship Ceremony
AFRICAN TEA TRADITIONS
East Africa
In East Africa, a popular drink is Cardamom Tea. It is a hot tea spiced with cardamom. Cardamom tea differs from Masala Chai (an Indian spiced tea with cardamom and other spices) in that the black tea is brewed first, then cardamom, milk and sugar are added to the cup or tea pot after (they are not boiled togethere). With maslala chai, all of the ingredients are boiled together.
Morocco
Morocco is a country on the coast of northwestern Africa. Moroccans drink their tea from glasses. Green tea is brewed with fresh mint leaves and served already sweetened with sugar. In serving the sweet mint tea, a server often holds a tea pot high in the air and pours the mint tea from at least 12 inches above a tea glass so that it flows in a long continuous stream of hot liquid.
Senegal "Attaya" - Friendship Tea Ceremony
Attaya is a Senegalese tea ceremony. It is served in three rounds. The first round is strong and bitter. The second round is sweeter by adding sugar and a little mint. The third round is very sweet with more sugar and mint.
The attaya tea ceremony is supposed to reflect friendship:
"The longer we have known each other, the sweeter our friendship grows!"
- Senegalese saying
First Round (Lewel)
In a small pot (brada), put one cup of water, one small glass (kas) of sugar, and one small glass (kas) of tea leaves (warga). Set the pot on a grill or gas burner (fuurnu) and bring the mixture to a boil. Remove from the heat and pour some of the liquid into each of two or four glasses. Begin pouring the liquid back and forth between the glasses until each glass has foam on it. Keep the foam on the glasses, and then pour the liquid back into the brada and bring to a boil again. Remove from heat and pour into the glasses. Mix again until foam is even bigger then serve round one.
This first round should be strong and bitter, just a little sweet.
Second Round (Naarel)
Add more water to the brada & the warga should still be in the pot. Add more mint leaves, nana and/or pastilles (a mint candy similar to gum drops) to the pot. Bring to a boil. Add two generas kas of sugar, and then bring to a boil again. Remove from heat and pour some of the mixture into each of the glasses. Begin pouring the liquid back and forth between glasses until each glass has foam on it. Repeat process again.
This second round is getting sweeter and intense!
Third Round (Nettel)
Add more water and a little more warga to the pot. Add more mint leaves and pastilles to the pot...be very generous. Bring to a boil. Add three heaping kas of sugar and bring to a boil again. Repeat the process of pouring back and forth into the glasses to create a froth.
This third round is sweetest of all....it takes time and patience to make, but very worth savoring every minute...just like a long friendship!!!
AFRICA is the second largest of the seven continents on Earth (Asia is the largest continent). Africa is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean on the west, the Indian Ocean on the east, the Mediterranean Sea on the north and the Red Sea on the northeast.
There are about 52 countries in Africa (some countries are disputed). The biggest country is Africa is Sudan. The countries with the largest population in Africa are: Nigeria, Egypt and Ethiopia.
DESERTS Africa has many vast deserts, including the largest hot desert in the world, the Sahara. The Sahara Desert is located in northern Africa and the Kalahar Desert is located in southern Africa.
ISLANDS The biggest island off of Africa is Madagascar, which is near the coast of southeast Africa. Other islands include: the Seychelles (a chain of islands north of Madagascar), the Comoros (another chain of islands north of Madagascar), the Canary Islands (a chain of islands off the northwest coast), the Madeira Islands (a chain of islands off the northwest coast of Cameroon), and Sao Tome (southwest of Equatorial Guinea).
African Tea Producing Countries:
Africa produces 25% of the world's tea. kenya, malawi and Zimbabwe are some of the major tea producing countrries. In addition to those countries, the following African countries also produce tea: Burundi, Madagascar, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa, and Zaire.
KENYA is one of the major producers of black tea. Kenya tea is used in many black tea blends and is usually mixed with Assam, Darjeeling and/or Ceylon teas to produce some ot the most popular blends.
MALAWI is a small country in East Africa named after the Malawi people, who migrated into that region in the 13th century. Tea is the second largest export. Black Tea is grown in the foothills of Mt. Mulanje at 10,000 ft. above sea level. Malawi's teaa are exported to Europe where many of the famouns blends are produced. Ireland is one of the major importers of African teas.
SOUTH AFRICA is famous for Rooibos tea. "Rooibos" is an African slang word of Dutch origin meaning "Red Bursh". The rooibos plant is green and it turns red during the fermentation process. The leaves are picked, bruised, fermented, and then dried in the hot African sun. It is the bruising step, in which the leaves are hammered or crushed, that gives Rooibos the distinctive red color.
ZIMBABWE is the Shona language for "Zimba Remabwe", which means "big house of stone". Zimbabwe produces only black tea. The Zimbabwe tea is most frequently blended with Indian or Sri Lankan (Ceylon) teas.