Thursday, December 30, 2021

KURDISTAN
PHOTOS:
Erbil hosting chocolate, coffee exhibition Furthermore, more coffee shops and vendors have opened in Erbil in recent years as the Kurdish capital’s youth look for entrepreneurial initiatives to secure an income.
The exhibition will last for three days in Erbil, Dec. 29, 2021. 
(Photo: Rebaz Siyan/Kurdistan 24)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Region capital Erbil launched a chocolate and coffee exhibition on Wednesday.

The three-day-long exhibition, situated at the entrance of Shanadar Park, will begin each day at 10 am until early evening, organizers told Kurdistan 24 on Wednesday.

The exhibition features several brands of chocolate and coffee from various regional and international brands.
A resident walks by a coffee pavilion at the exhibition, Dec. 29, 2021.
 (Photo: Rebaz Siyan/Kurdistan 24)

The most popular caffeinated drink in the Kurdistan Region and its capital is black tea. However, the number of coffee drinkers in the autonomous region increased in recent years as more international brands entered its markets.

Furthermore, more coffee shops and vendors have opened in Erbil in recent years as the Kurdish capital’s youth look for entrepreneurial initiatives to secure an income.
Coffee pots on display at the exhibition, Dec. 29, 2021.
 (Photo: Rebaz Siyan/Kurdistan 24)

Before the influx of coffee shops and Western-style restaurants, the Kurdistan Region’s tea houses were the favorite rendezvous for many to discuss pressing societal issues.

Despite the influx of Arabic and other international coffee brands, Kurdish people have recently embraced drinking terebinth coffee, locally known as “Qazwan”.

A woman pours coffee into a small cup, Dec. 29, 2021. 
(Photo: Rebaz Siyan/Kurdistan 24)

A Kurdish university lecturer recently argued that the beverage should be called “Kurdish coffee” as it was originally produced in the Turkish Kurdistan’s Bitlis region before the establishment of the Turkish republic.

University lecturer calls for renaming terebinth coffee ‘Kurdish coffee’ The Turkish name of the coffee is MenengiƧ.
 
 Halgurd Sherwani 2021/12/26 12:06

Demitasse of terebinth coffee (right). 
The cover of the French company's brand of the beverage (left). 
(Photos: Kurdistan 24)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A university lecturer in the Kurdistan Region’s Erbil province has argued that the original name of terebinth coffee was “Kurdish coffee” until it was renamed Menengic by the Kemalists in Turkey in the 1930s.

Karwan Sabah Hawrami is a lecturer at the Salahaddin University-Hawler. In a Dec. 22 Facebook post, he argued that coffee has a history that dates back to 1635.

The coffee is made from the terebinth berries of Kurdistan’s mountains.

A French company was marketing the coffee in Europe before the Kemalists forcibly changed its name to “Turkish coffee”, Hawrami wrote.

The Turkish name of the coffee is MenengiƧ.

Locally, the coffee is now called Qazwan (terebinth) by people in the Kurdistan Region and is served under that name in restaurants and coffee shops.

Hawrami calls on the government, coffee shops, and restaurant owners to name it “Kurdish coffee” instead of “Qazwan”, as the former is the “original” moniker.

Hawrami is an expert in hydrology and geography.

Terebinth berries are roasted to extract the paste of the fruit for making the coffee, which is mixed with milk and served in demitasses. It is a popular drink in the Kurdistan Region.

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