The event that took place at Madrid and Cordoba, saw elite Emirati and Spanish intellectuals and academics took part in sessions and seminars held as part of the event.

For ages now, coffee has been of high significance among the Arabs, and it has also played an important role in building relations with other regions. At the event ‘Sharjah Literary Days’, the significance of coffee in Spain’s bilateral relations with the Arab world and the symbolism of water took centre stage.

The event that took place in Madrid and Cordoba, saw elite Emirati and Spanish intellectuals and academics took part in sessions and seminars held as part of the event held in the presence of Ahmed bin Rakkad Al Ameri, SBA Chairman.

Organised by the Sharjah Book Authority in cooperation with Cása Árabe, the session ‘The Journey of Arabic Coffee’ saw the discussion of coffee as a staple in Arab Majlis’ (councils) and a symbol of generosity in the Arab world.

Dr Abdul Aziz Al Musallam, Chairman of the Sharjah Institute for Heritage shared that the importance given to the beverage in Arab culture can be gauged by the fact that the coffee brewer is given the status of a professional, known as ‘Al Qahwaji.’

The influence of coffee on Arab culture is deep-rooted. For instance, the ‘dallah’ (Arabic for coffee pot) is seen on the back of the one-dirham coin.

Talking about it, Al Musallam said, “The dirham coin has the Qurayshia brass coffee pot on it, which can be adorned with accessories like women’s earrings,” adding that pottery in Wadi Haqil in Ras Al Khaimah was the first to produce the ‘dallah’ in the UAE.

There are three types of coffee pots used in the UAE with three distinct varieties - a large one called Al Khamra, and Al Mazala and Al Taljima, which are used to make coffee with saffron, cardamom, rose water, and cloves. Some tribes also make a concoction called Oud coffee by adding agarwood to the mixture.

To that Encarna Gutiérrez, Secretary-General of the Islamic Culture Foundation said that coffee has served as a bridge for cultural exchange between the Arab world and Spain. He said that Abyssinia (Ethiopia) was considered the birthplace of coffee, from where it spread to Yemen and across the GCC region. The sixteenth-century saw the bean taking hold of the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe, leading to an increase in trade between the Arab world and Europe.