25) history of coffee and cocoa Written by Rainer: rainer.lehrer@yahoo.com Learn languages (via Skype): Rainer: + 36 20 549 52 97 or + 36 20 334 79 74

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The history of coffee and cocoa It is the year 1683 and the Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa Pasha and his army are standing in front of Vienna to conquer it. A dark drink is brewed in the camp. Brown beans are grinded and then boiled. It tastes bitter and brings the pulse to 180, as if one had argued with one's love partner or was running 100 meters at full speed without having warmed up beforehand. Months later, when the Turks had to give up their plans to take Vienna and left their encampment, a few sacks of these beans are found and an escaped slave explains how to prepare and drink it. After the first sip, many spit it out, others grimace. But a few years later, ever larger quantities of it are imported. The Turks had taken over the black brew from Arab nomads and it had been part of everyday life for centuries. It was different in Europe. While the poor stayed in their beer and wine cellars, the rich sat on terraces and in gardens, enjoying some music that was performed by a chamber orchestra or soloists. Afterwards, famous composers such as Bach wrote piano pieces for two or four hands or cantatas especially for these café houses. Bach's coffee cantata, for example, is about women being prohibited from drinking coffee by her father. However, why should, what men were allowed to, be taboo for women? The young lady in this little comedy loves coffee, which the father looks at with disapproving eyes, whereupon he threatens his daughter not to get married if she continues to indulge in this pleasure. Seemingly, the sly woman declines the brown brew because she has already found her lover, who approves of enjoying coffee. Maybe Bach was the first feminist! The fact is that coffee consumption increased steadily. The biggest problem was that it had to be bought from the enemy, the Turks. The English and Spaniards also sensed their big business here and started growing the plant in their overseas provinces, in Africa and South America. The same nose for business prompted the English to bring cocoa from South America to Africa. Today, cocoa from Africa is more famous than that from its home continent. But while the small farmers in their garden don't even have a little bit of millet to eat, unfortunately coffee cannot be eaten and it has little nutritional value, they are at the mercy of the controlled play of global corporations and powers, who give those poor countries not really advantageous loans and make sure that the small farmers do not get out of this spiral of debt. Back to list!

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