N 105 Coffee and Me
( Part 1 )
Though many people in Myanmar don’t drink coffee
throughout their lives I am not one of them.
What we eat and drink and
how to prepare them come to us from family traditions, especially the parents,
who are the nearest kin to us. The staple foods for us Shan people are sticky
rice and curries prepared by using soy powder and other ingredients. As for
drinks the Shan people like to drink hot green tea. This tea is drunk
throughout the day and guests are also entertained with it, which is fragrant and delicious when roasted
over fire. Coffee is something which is alien to Shan and also other ethnic
people of the rural areas.
But this coffee had been
an important beverage to people of the west, though it is not their native
crop.
Excerpt from the book ;
How to make Coffee….
( The coffee bean is
believed to have originally evolved in the wild of East Africa. One popular
legend has it that coffee’s introduction to human race came about when a young
Ethiopian found his goats prancing tirelessly after chewing on an unusual
plant. Having sampled some of it himself and feeling energized as a consequence
the goatherd brought some of the magical plant back to his community . Words
spread and the rest is history.
The earliest evidence of
human cultivation of the coffee plant has been traced back to the 15th
century in Yemen. From there it travelled to the Arabian Peninsular and then to
Europe, and the rest of the world.)
for our country it may
be the English who introduced it to us
after they had taken our country. So at the time I was born coffee culture had
take firm roots in big towns and cities.
I remember that my family
had been drinking coffee since I was small. As cows were raised in Taunggyi by
Hindu Indians we could easily buy milk from them. These milkmen came and
delivered milk regualarly at people’s homes. They weighed their milk by tin cups of 25 or 50 ticals and
collected the bill at the end of each month.We usually boiled the milk first before consuming. Maybe to reduce water
added to it , and also to kill viruses if there were some.
To make coffee by our way
we put one or two teaspoons of coffee into
a cup and then poured hot boiling water
was over it. After adding sugar and milk and stirring well the coffee is ready for
drinking. I remember that beside some
locally produced coffee powder there were also imported coffee like Polson in
those days.
We didn’t think it was so bothersome to make coffee
like that in those days , because there were no other options but to do it this
way. But nowadays when there are readymade 3 in 1 coffee of various brands
people who do not know the disadvantages of coffee mix prefer these coffee mix
.Because the prices are so cheap
manufacturers cannot use real coffee, but substitutes like pounded outer coverings
of coconut with some coffee essence added. So even when we are drinking these
coffee mix we will not be able to enjoy the effect of real coffee.
Coffee does not have much
nutritional value. Only caffeine is the most significant component in it . The beneficial effects of caffeine are improved
attention, alertness and physical performance, but there may also be adverse
effects like disturbed sleep patterns.
Despite its advantage or
disadvantages, I will not refrain from drinking coffee. There are many people
who are addicted to drugs and and alcohol . Some to tea and or other kinds of
foods. It can be said I am addicted to coffee. If I have not taken a cup of coffee in the morning I
would feel as if something is missing, something not yet accomplished.
So as long as my life and
my health permit me I will be satisfied if I have a cup of coffee in the
morning and another at tea time.
