Thursday, April 24, 2008

Kaapi to Coffee

When in Tamil Nadu, the two things you absolutely must not say aloud are these: That Rajnikanth is Maharashtrian and that coffee is not native to their land!It still shocks many Indians when they learn that coffee was actually brought to India as late as the 16th century A.D , by a muslim pilgrim, Baba Budan. In his zeal to share what he'd found with his fellows at home, he smuggled seven coffee beans out of the Yemeni port of Mocha, wrapped around his belly. On his return home, he settled himself on the slopes of the Chandragiri Hills in Kadur district, Mysore State (present day Karnataka).Ever since Kaapi(coffee) has become as much a part of the south Indian morning routine as the suprabhatam.
Wrote Rev. Edward Terry, chaplain to Sir Thomas Roe who was ambassador at the court of Emperor Jehangir, in 1616 A.D"Many of the people there (in India), who are strict in their religion, drink no Wine at all; but they use a Liquor more wholesome than pleasant, they call Coffee; made by a black Seed boiled in water, which turns it almost into the same colour, but doth very little alter the taste of the water: notwithstanding it is very good to help digestion, to quicken the spirits, and to cleanse the blood."Subsequently, the first Indian coffe house, The Madras Coffee house opened in Madras(now Chennai) in 1780, after the battle of Plassey, by Messrs Jackson and Barret of the East India Company.
Historical references tell us that much. However, to know the story of how, Coffee thus far an Arab / Muslim / European experience, percolated into the South Indian, and particularly, the Tamil Brahmin household, we take clues from Tamilian literature. From the novel Devadasi, written by Kasturi Srinivasan, we can be sure that Tamilians continued to view the drink as an expensive (and simultaneously, unclean as it was in vougue with the European Aristocracy) liquor until the early 1900s.Then it was popularised by the Indian coffee houses run by the Coffee board in the 1940s(The delhi branch still exists today at Connaught Place).
It became the drink of millions after the emergence of more popular Indian Coffee Houses in mid 1950s.The Malayali book,Coffee Housinte Katha by Nadakkal Parameswaran Pillai, that was released in the 1950s was and still remains, a delightful read forevery coffee lover.
Indian filter coffee even migrated overseas in the early 20th century to Malaysia and Singapore, where kopi tarik (pulled coffee) is a close cousin of the Kaapi, and was introduced at roadside kopi tiams run originally by Indian Muslims. Eventually, after the economic reforms, many foreign brands have flooded the market(Barista and Cafe Coffee Day being some of the more popular ones).
As we enter the Twenty first century, the traditional Kaapi is slowly becoming a sober drink of the older generation, as Esspressos, Mocchachinos and Cafe Lattes find favour with the youth. Most traditionalists are of the opinion that "India needs a coffee Renaissance, as these corporate coffees are mild, luke warm, and usually, the best thing about them is the graphic on their cups!" But that, as they say, is a matter of Opinion.