Coffee : A Connoisseur's Companion

by Claudia Roden

Coffee is one of the essential pleasures of life, but very few people know much about it. Fortunately for us, award-winning food writer Claudia Roden has taken it upon herself to rectify the situation with this scholarly, entertaining, and practical volume. In charming prose, she narrates the fascinating story of coffee as both crop and beverage, and opens up for us the infinite possibilities the drink has to offer.

From its exotic beginnings in Africa and Arabia, coffee swept through Europe and the Americas in the seventeenth century, profoundly changing patterns of life as it went. Although it suffered religious persecution, social prejudice, and fierce political opposition, coffee reigned supreme and was soon being grown in prodigious quantities around the world.

Roden explains the labor-intensive processes of growing coffee and preparing the beans, provides an invaluable guide to the quality beans of the world, and dispenses expert advice on all the steps of coffee preparation, from buying to brewing. The final section is devoted to heart-warming coffee punches, refreshing iced coffee, and frothy frappes, as well as delicious coffee cakes and desserts.

Enhanced by Murray Zanoni's watercolor illustrations, Roden's book is the perfect guide to this noble, aromatic, and sociable bean.In this scholarly, entertaining, and practical book, the Claudia Roden tells fascinating story of coffee as both crop and beverage, and opens up for us the infinite possibilities the drink has to offer.

Genres: Cookbooks, Nonfiction, History

120 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1978

About the author

Claudia Roden was brought up in Cairo. She finished her education in Paris and later studied art in London. Starting as a painter she was drawn to the subject of food partly through a desire to evoke a lost heritage - one of the pleasures of a happy life in Egypt.
With her bestselling classic, A Book of Middle Eastern Food, first published in 1968, Roden revolutionized Western attitudes to the cuisine of the Middle East. Her intensely personal approach and her passionate appreciation of the dishes delighted readers, while she introduced them to a new world of foods, both exotic and wholesome. The book received great critical acclaim.
Mrs Roden continued to write about food with a special interest in the social and historical background of cooking.
Then came the BBC television series, Mediterranean Cookery with Claudia Roden and the accompanying book entitled Claudia Roden's Mediterranean Cookery.
In 1992, she won the Glenfiddich Trophy, the top prize in the Glenfiddich Awards.

Reviews

[Yves · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid overview which has been revised after 20 years by the author for the reader that wants a journey. The harder edge of coffee, the slavery, the crushing poverty, and the colonial attitude of the large coffee buyers are glossed over or ignored.

What book this could have been if a chapter on the reality of the coffee trade replaced the cake and dessert chapters which are anachronistic and better suited to culinary book.

Good enough to stay on my shelf but what a book this could have been with all of that knowledge writing about the reality instead of the fable of coffee.

[Gerald Kinro · Rating 4 out of 5]

For one desiring the basics, this book had just the right amount of information--history, growing selecting and brewing. Plus, it is beautifully illustrated.

[Nina Cast · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not terribly useful since it was written in the 70's, but kind of fun to see how things have changed in the last 45-50 years.

[Steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an awesome, educational read on coffee! I've learned some stuff and hope to put this new knowledge to work for a better cup at home.