Arabic Coffee on a Rocket Stove

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We are spending some time in Israel with family and friends. It’s supposed to be winter here now but the weather is not cooperating. If you follow my FaceBook page maybe you saw the pictures of flowers I posted a few days ago. It is very much spring, everything is in bloom and there is no reason to stay indoors.

My mother-in-law, Yehudit, still lives in the house my husband was born in. The house is located in Amirim, a small vegetarian village located in the mountainous Galilee in the North of Israel.

On an afternoon walk in the village, we stopped to check on the progress of a Yurt which is being built by my husband’s best friend. It sits up on the side of the mountain (pretty complicated construction) and the view is absolutely incredible. You can see the surrounding villages and mountains, and on a good day even the Sea of Galilee.

Here is Gili (right) with my husband. They grew up together from infancy and are still best friends. Gili lives in another yurt he built for himself a while ago. He is a veterinarian who eats organic food and does not have a smart phone or a vehicle. He decided a while ago that the rat race is not for him. When he is not traveling the world he spends his time building things for himself and others. He can fix and build just about anything.

You can’t spend a whole day working without a coffee break. So Gili built a small rocket stove outside of the yurt so he can boil water and make himself and the visitors who stop by (believe me, we are not the only ones) good old Arabic coffee. Nothing in the world symbols Middle – Eastern hospitality more than strong, bitter-sweet Arabic coffee.

What is a Rocket Stove?

As Wikipedia explains it:

“A rocket stove is an efficient cooking stove using small diameter wood fuel which is burned in a simple high-temperature combustion chamber containing a vertical chimney and a secondary air supply which ensures almost complete combustion prior to the flames reaching the cooking surface”

This stove in the picture above is built of two parts. The first is a horizontal fuel magazine and the second is a vertical chimney. Small pieces of wood are fed manually through the fuel magazine and burn in the combustion chamber. The chimney is built from two metal cylinders, one inside the other, with soil in between them for added insulation. The design allows maximum flow of air, and the insulation assures maximum combustion and temperature.

Many agree that a Rocket stove is the most efficient kind of stove. With a small amount of little pieces of wood the stove will produce a great amount of heat.

 Back to the coffee….

How To Make Arabic Coffee:

We start by boiling a pot of water. This pot contains 3 cups of water.

Once the water boil we add 3 nine-month-pregnant teaspoons of coffee. It’s got to be full-term teaspoons, this drink is as black as the night. You can find Arabic coffee in most international food stores or here. We cook it in a pot we call Finjan which is a Turkish small pot. You can find it here (affiliate links).

We do not mix the coffee, just let the powder sink slowly.

It will look like that for a couple of minutes….

Until it starts boiling again. Count 3 seconds and take it off the heat.

We add 3 teaspoons of sugar and mix. This coffee will be bitter but you can break it a bit with sugar, or if you feel brave try without.

We drink it in small amounts, maybe 1/3 cup at a time. After pouring it to the cup, let it stand for a minute so the powder will sink to the bottom. Make sure to leave the last sip in the cup, you don’t want to drink the powder (it does not melt like instant coffee).

Note: The flavor of the coffee doubles if you make it outdoors, especially on a beautiful Spring day on a spot with great view and good fresh air. You won’t find an Israeli hiker without Arabic coffee in the backpack.

Enjoy.