Spain is one of the countries that serves a small saucer with the cup. of coffee, a place that not only serves to put the spoon or sugar, but goes much further. We must go back to the origins of coffee in our country and all that the arrival of this element has meant to give us joy in the morning, afternoon, evening or at any time. Without a doubt, the time has come to know the history of this extraordinary drink that has perhaps fascinated us until now.
There is a reason to include a small saucer when we serve coffee, it is not what we imagine. We are facing an element that we will surely have taken into account and that will help us to know at all times the way in which this element that has become essential has been consumed. The time will have come to start thinking about what we can get from this coffee, from this ingredient that will surely end up becoming a reality that we must put into practice at this precise moment in an exceptional way.
Knowing a little about coffee is essential
It is hard to imagine a morning without the usual coffee, even if we have a coffee maker at home and we have already prepared a copious cup, the one from the usual bar will always be better. Hand in hand with these experts who must end up being the ones who accompany us these days.
This perfectly made coffee foam and this way of serving it in a cup with a saucer have their reason for being. But before knowing it, Bonka invites us to learn a little more about the origin of this coffee that we drink in Spain and that we have been consuming daily for decades or hundreds of years.
As they explain: “Coffee originated in Africa and it was the Arabs who adapted its cultivation and began to trade it. But it was not until the 17th century that coffee consumption reached Europe. In fact, coffee was not introduced to Spain until the mid-18th century and it was thanks to the Italians who accompanied the Bourbons after the War of Succession. The first time the word coffee appears in Spain, as a plant and drink, is in the Dictionary of Authorities of the Royal Spanish Academy, in 1726.
The first coffee houses in Spain were not long in coming: “In 1764, the first coffee house opened in Madrid, the Fonda de San Sebastián, located on the central Atocha street. From that moment on, many coffee houses appeared in cities such as Madrid and Barcelona. Cádiz, a city with liberal ideas, was at that time the Spanish capital of coffee. By 1802, there were 23 coffee houses that were both meeting places and political debate centers.
The first coffee had nothing to do with the ones we drink today: “Until the end of the 19th century, coffee consumption in Spain was not completely widespread, nor was it the most popular drink. In fact, hot chocolate was the most consumed drink at that time, ahead of coffee. The Italian coffee maker did not arrive in Spain until the middle of the 20th century and Espresso machines became popular after World War II.. Our great-grandparents prepared their coffee in a coffee pot, called a coffee pot or coffee stew. Hot water, ground coffee and filter through a fine cloth. “It was the first coffee drunk in Spain.”
This is why coffee should be served with a small saucer.
The dish that accompanies the coffee serves to consume it more quickly. In the past, a little of this drink was poured so that the person could consume it more quickly. In other words, it was a system that allowed it to cool more quickly than it would take to do it in the cup.
Perhaps the rush or lack of habit of tasting this element is what has made coffee a detail that we would like to start consuming in a very different way. That moment will have arrived when we will be able to say that we finally know the way in which we consume this coffee, the main reason for being able to taste and enjoy it.
It is time to know first-hand this type of drink that perhaps we had not taken into account until now. Being a good basic to start the day or even to end it with a good hot decaf after a hard day of work, it can be a good way to leave some bad thoughts behind. It is time to bet clearly on this drink that will be the one that will accompany us in these modern times, simply using a cup and waiting for it to cool down little by little.
