Café Touba

Ingredients

Coffee

• 250 ggreen coffee beans
• 2 tbspgrains of Selim pods
• 1 tspcloves, optional

To brew

• 1.5 litreswater
• sugar, generously

Equipment

• a cloth filter or fine sieve

Directions

1. Roast the green coffee beans in a heavy dry pan over a medium heat, stirring constantly, for 15 to 20 minutes, until they are dark brown and oily and cracking audibly.
2. Add the grains of Selim pods for the last 3 minutes only, so that they toast without burning. They are a resinous, peppery pod and they scorch far faster than the beans do.
3. Add the cloves, if using, for the final minute.
4. Let everything cool completely, then grind it all together to a fine powder. The usual proportion is about one part pods to ten parts coffee, adjusted by taste and by household.
5. Bring the water to the boil and pour it slowly through the ground coffee held in a cloth filter or a fine sieve, in the same way tea is poured in Senegal.
6. Pass the same liquid through the grounds a second time for a stronger cup. Café Touba is served strong and is meant to be.
7. Sweeten heavily in the pot rather than at the table, which is how it is sold from the urns.
8. Serve very hot in small glasses, poured from a height so that a head of foam forms on each one.

Technique

• Grains of Selim is not black pepper and there is no close substitute. It is peppery, faintly bitter and slightly medicinal, and that character is the drink.
• It is closely associated with the Mouride brotherhood founded by Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba, and takes its name from the holy city of Touba.
• Mouride vendors sell it from insulated urns on streets across Senegal, which is how most people drink it rather than making it at home.

Substitutions

• Ready-ground café Touba, which is widely sold and perfectly good.
• Roasted coffee with a few grains of paradise and a clove, which points in the right direction without arriving there.

Variations

• With extra cloves for a spicier cup.
• With a pinch of grated nutmeg.
• Drunk with a piece of bread as a working breakfast.

History

Flavoured with grains of Selim pepper and linked to Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba, founder of the Mouride brotherhood; Mouride vendors sell it from urns nationwide.

Frequently asked questions

What is Café Touba?

Café Touba is a drink from Senegal: mouride coffee spiced with grains of Selim pepper. Flavoured with grains of Selim pepper and linked to Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba, founder of the Mouride brotherhood; Mouride vendors sell it from urns nationwide.

How long does Café Touba take to make?

Café Touba takes 10 min of preparation and 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 6 glasses. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Café Touba?

Yes, within limits. Ready-ground café Touba, which is widely sold and perfectly good. Roasted coffee with a few grains of paradise and a clove, which points in the right direction without arriving there.

What is the most important thing to get right in Café Touba?

Sweeten heavily in the pot rather than at the table, which is how it is sold from the urns.