Qaxwo

Ingredients

The coffee

• 6 tablespoonsground coffee
• medium roast, coarsely ground
• 700 mlwater

The spices

• 6green cardamom pods
• crushed
• 3cm fresh ginger
• sliced
• or 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 stickcinnamon
• 4cloves, optional

To sweeten

• sugar, generously
• added to the pot
• or served on the side

To serve

• in small handleless cups
• poured from height
• with dates

Directions

1. Grind it coarsely for this method. Crush the cardamom pods lightly. Press each pod with a knife flat. The pod should crack right open. Slice the fresh ginger thinly. Slice it rather than grating it.
2. Put the water into a large pot. Add all of the whole spices to it. Bring the pot right up to a boil. Boil the spices before the coffee. They need longer to release flavour.
3. Add the ground coffee to the pot. Adjust it all to your own taste. Let it simmer for about five minutes. Keep it at a bare simmer only.
4. Use a larger pot than seems needed. They take it off as it rises up. Stir the sugar into the whole pot. Take the pot right off the heat.
5. Let it stand for a few minutes. A few minutes is quite enough. Pour it carefully off the top. Pour it slowly and very steadily. Stop before the grounds start coming.
6. Leave the last of it in the pot. Serving it is done in small cups. Pour it into small handleless cups.
7. Fill each cup only part of the way. Filling it partway keeps it hot. Pour it from a height if you can. Take real care not to splash it. Set out dates or sweets with it. It is drunk hot and quite slowly. Make it fresh every single time.

Technique

• The spices go into the water and boil for about five minutes before the coffee, since they need longer to release their flavour. Boiling extracts spice and coffee together so the result is integrated rather than layered, which is the point of the method.
• Coffee foams up dramatically as it boils and goes over the side in seconds, so use a larger pot than seems needed and watch it closely. Keep it at a bare simmer, since a hard boil makes it bitter as well as boiling over.
• Grind the coffee coarsely, since a coarse grind settles far better where a fine one clouds the whole pot. Let it stand a few minutes off the heat so the grounds sink, then pour slowly off the top and stop before they come — some sediment in the cup is expected rather than a fault.

Substitutions

• Ground ginger stands in for fresh, giving a more muted heat; slice fresh ginger rather than grating it, since grated ginger clouds the pot and passes into the cup where slices stay behind.
• Sugar goes into the pot to sweeten everything or is offered on the side so each drinker chooses; both are genuinely done.

Variations

• Crush the cardamom pods only enough to crack them open with the flat of a knife rather than grinding them to powder, since the whole pod goes into the pot.
• Some cooks let it rise three times, taking it off the heat as it foams and returning it, which is a traditional technique; tapping the pot or adding a splash of cold water helps the grounds settle faster.
• The Bab el-Mandeb strait carried goods and habits between Yemen and the Horn for centuries, which is why the coffee is spiced in the Arabian manner; the atlas also carries poisson yéménite, a Djibouti dish that crossed the same water.

History

Djibouti’s coffee is spiced in the Arabian manner, reflecting centuries of trade across the Bab el-Mandeb.

Frequently asked questions

What is Qaxwo?

Qaxwo is a drink from Djibouti: coffee brewed with ginger and cardamom, poured sweet in small cups. Djibouti’s coffee is spiced in the Arabian manner, reflecting centuries of trade across the Bab el-Mandeb.

How long does Qaxwo take to make?

Qaxwo takes 10 minutes of preparation and 15 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 4. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Qaxwo?

Yes, within limits. Ground ginger stands in for fresh, giving a more muted heat; slice fresh ginger rather than grating it, since grated ginger clouds the pot and passes into the cup where slices stay behind. Sugar goes into the pot to sweeten everything or is offered on the side so each drinker chooses; both are genuinely done.

What is the most important thing to get right in Qaxwo?

Grind it coarsely for this method. Crush the cardamom pods lightly. Press each pod with a knife flat. The pod should crack right open. Slice the fresh ginger thinly. Slice it rather than grating it.