Jump to content

Senegalese tea culture: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous edit
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
Included Guinea, as one of additional countries that also heavily drink attaya.
Adding intentionally blank description, overriding Wikidata description "use of tea in Senegal"
 
(25 intermediate revisions by 17 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Short description|none}}
[[File:Tob preparando el te (2137464435).jpg|thumbnail|A five-year-old boy preparing tea near [[Dakar]], [[Senegal]].]]
[[File:Tob preparando el te (2137464435).jpg|300px|thumb|A five-year-old boy preparing tea near [[Dakar]], [[Senegal]].]]
'''Senegalese tea culture''' is an important part of daily social life. Senegal tea-drinking revolves around mint tea especially, similar to other countries in the West Africa region, such as [[Guinea]], [[Gambia]] and [[Mauritania]]. In and around Senegal, tea is prepared and presented in an elaborate process known by the [[Wolof language|Wolof]]{{dubious|date=February 2015}} word, ''attaya'' or ''ataaya''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Green Tea with Mint|url=http://www.congocookbook.com/beverages/green_tea_with_mint.html|publisher=The Congo Kuk (African Recipes)|accessdate=October 9, 2011}}</ref> People sometimes drink tea at breakfast but more particularly after meals, and it is the beverage that is offered to friends and visitors. Drinking tea promotes conversation and maintains friendship because it takes a long time to prepare properly.<ref>{{cite web|title=Countries of the Francophone: The Musée de la Femme "Henriette Bathily", Senegal: Preparing Tea|url=http://www.museevirtuel-virtualmuseum.ca/edu/ViewLoitDa.do?method=preview&lang=EN&id=11319|publisher=Canadian Heritage Information Network|accessdate=October 9, 2011}}</ref>
'''Senegalese tea culture''' is an important part of daily social life. The Senegalese tea-drinking custom is essentially similar to those of other countries in the West Africa region, such as [[Mali]], [[Guinea]], [[Gambia]] and [[Mauritania]]. In and around Senegal, tea is prepared and presented in an elaborate process, and known in the [[Wolof language|Wolof]] language as ''attaya'', ''ataya'' or ''ataaya''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Green Tea with Mint|url=http://www.congocookbook.com/beverages/green_tea_with_mint.html|publisher=The Congo Kuk (African Recipes)|access-date=October 9, 2011}}</ref>


==Making ataya==
⚫
Senegalese-style mint tea is served in three separate stages, called "the three concoctions": {{blockquote|Chinese green tea leaves are put into the teapot with some water and mint leaves and boiled over a charcoal stove. Sugar is added to the teapot and the tea is poured into small glasses of a certain height and then poured back and forth from the glass to the teapot several times so that foam appears in the glass. The thicker the foam, the better the tea.<ref>{{cite web|title=Countries of the Francophone: The Musée de la Femme "Henriette Bathily", Senegal: Preparing Tea|url=http://www.museevirtuel-virtualmuseum.ca/edu/ViewLoitDa.do?method=preview&lang=EN&id=11319|publisher=Canadian Heritage Information Network|accessdate=October 9, 2011}}</ref>}}

Sometimes made with mint, the drink is particularly served as a social occasion after meals, and it's the beverage that is typically offered to friends and visitors. Drinking ''attaya'' is seen to promote conversation and maintain friendship because it takes a long time to prepare properly.<ref>{{cite web|title=Countries of the Francophone: The Musée de la Femme "Henriette Bathily", Senegal: Preparing Tea|url=http://www.museevirtuel-virtualmuseum.ca/edu/ViewLoitDa.do?method=preview&lang=EN&id=11319|publisher=Canadian Heritage Information Network|access-date=October 9, 2011}}</ref> Indeed, some authors have referenced the act of making ''ataya'' as a form of practical relaxation along with meditation and yoga.<ref>Calm: Secrets to Serenity from Cultures of the World, Lonely Planet 2013, page 65</ref>

⚫
Senegalese-style attaya is served in three separate stages, called "the three concoctions": {{blockquote|Chinese green tea leaves are put into the teapot with some water and mint leaves and boiled over a charcoal stove. Sugar is added to the teapot and the tea is poured into small glasses of a certain height and then poured back and forth from the glass to the teapot several times so that foam appears in the glass. The thicker the foam, the better the tea.<ref>{{cite web|title=Countries of the Francophone: The Musée de la Femme "Henriette Bathily", Senegal: Preparing Tea|url=http://www.museevirtuel-virtualmuseum.ca/edu/ViewLoitDa.do?method=preview&lang=EN&id=11319|publisher=Canadian Heritage Information Network|access-date=October 9, 2011}}</ref>}}
One cookbook of African recipes recommends serving the tea immediately with a generous amount of sugar:
One cookbook of African recipes recommends serving the tea immediately with a generous amount of sugar:
{{blockquote|The Western African style of serving involves holding the tea pot high above the table and pouring the hot tea at least twelve inches through the air into small glasses. (Glasses made of glass, not porcelain cups.) If the sugar is added to the pot, the tea is sometimes poured from the glasses back into the pot (before anyone has sipped) and the process is repeated. This mixes the sugar into the tea. Western Africans generally drink their tea very sweet.<ref>{{cite web|title=Green Tea with Mint|url=http://www.congocookbook.com/beverages/green_tea_with_mint.html|publisher=The Congo Cookbook (African Recipes)|accessdate=October 9, 2011}}</ref> }}
{{blockquote|The Western African style of serving involves holding the tea pot high above the table and pouring the hot tea at least twelve inches through the air into small glasses. (Glasses made of glass, not porcelain cups.) If the sugar is added to the pot, the tea is sometimes poured from the glasses back into the pot (before anyone has sipped) and the process is repeated. This mixes the sugar into the tea. Western Africans generally drink their tea very sweet.<ref>{{cite web|title=Green Tea with Mint|url=http://www.congocookbook.com/beverages/green_tea_with_mint.html|publisher=The Congo Cookbook (African Recipes)|access-date=October 9, 2011}}</ref> }}

The first glass has been described as having ''an intense sweetness that cancels out a strident tannic bitterness to give a shot that is almost narcotic in its effect''.<ref>Calm: Secrets to Serenity from Cultures of the World, Lonely Planet 2013, page 65</ref> The second glass is sweeter and the third is very sweet but much reduced in its bitterness because the same leaves are used to prepare all three glasses.


⚫
Words used in various ethnic languages to refer to the tea, the tiny metal teapot and the mint are typically borrowed from Arabic, pointing to the idea that Senegalese mint tea is of Moorish origin.<ref>{{cite web|title=Countries of the Francophone: The Musée de la Femme "Henriette Bathily", Senegal: Preparing Tea|url=http://www.museevirtuel-virtualmuseum.ca/edu/ViewLoitDa.do?method=preview&lang=EN&id=11319|publisher=Canadian Heritage Information Network|access-date=October 9, 2011}}</ref>
The first glass of tea is quite bitter, the second is sweeter and the third is very sweet but does not have much taste because the same leaves are used to prepare all three glasses.


⚫
More than 80% of the population from 15 to 60 years of age drink tea. Studies have shown that due to the high concentration of fluoride in green tea, the practice may aid in preventing dental diseases, specifically [[dental caries]].<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Yam AA |author2=Kane AW |author3=Cisse D |author4=Gueye MM |author5=Diop L |author6=Agboton P |author7=Faye M. |title=Traditional tea drinking in Senegal. A real source of fluoride intake for the population.|pmid=11372150 |volume=22 |journal=Odontostomatol Trop |pages=25–8}}</ref>
⚫
The words used in various ethnic languages to refer to the tea, the teapot and the mint are borrowed from Arabic, proving that Senegalese mint tea is of Moorish origin.<ref>{{cite web|title=Countries of the Francophone: The Musée de la Femme "Henriette Bathily", Senegal: Preparing Tea|url=http://www.museevirtuel-virtualmuseum.ca/edu/ViewLoitDa.do?method=preview&lang=EN&id=11319|publisher=Canadian Heritage Information Network|accessdate=October 9, 2011}}</ref>


==In music==
⚫
More than 80% of the population from 15 to 60 years of age drink tea. Studies have shown that due to the high concentration of fluoride in green tea, the practice may aid in preventing dental diseases, specifically [[dental caries]].<ref>{{cite web|author1=Yam AA |author2=Kane AW |author3=Cisse D |author4=Gueye MM |author5=Diop L |author6=Agboton P |author7=Faye M. |title=Traditional tea drinking in Senegal. A real source of fluoride intake for the population.|url=http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11372150|publisher=National Institutes of Health, United States|accessdate=October 9, 2011}}</ref>
The cultural importance of Senegalese tea drinking was underlined in the song ''Ataya'', a track on [[Ismaël Lô]]'s 1986 album, ''Natt''.


==See also==
==See also==
Line 21: Line 29:
==External links==
==External links==
Videos showing ''attaya'' tea drinking customs:
Videos showing ''attaya'' tea drinking customs:
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHxA9U5SyAM A man demonstrates attaya ceremonial serving of tea.]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHxA9U5SyAM A man demonstrates attaya ceremonial serving of tea.]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpBLnPr3JKM&feature=related Drinking attaya in Eastern Senegal, also showing the preparation of the tea over an outdoor charcoal fire.]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpBLnPr3JKM Drinking attaya in Eastern Senegal, also showing the preparation of the tea over an outdoor charcoal fire.]
*


{{Cuisine of Africa}}
{{Cuisine of Africa}}
{{Teas}}
{{Teas}}


[[Category:Senegalese cuisine]]
[[Category:Senegalese drinks]]
[[Category:Tea culture by country]]
[[Category:Tea culture by country]]
[[Category:Tea in Africa]]
[[Category:Tea in Africa]]

Latest revision as of 17:36, 6 May 2024

A five-year-old boy preparing tea near Dakar, Senegal.

Senegalese tea culture is an important part of daily social life. The Senegalese tea-drinking custom is essentially similar to those of other countries in the West Africa region, such as Mali, Guinea, Gambia and Mauritania. In and around Senegal, tea is prepared and presented in an elaborate process, and known in the Wolof language as attaya, ataya or ataaya.[1]

Making ataya

[edit]

Sometimes made with mint, the drink is particularly served as a social occasion after meals, and it's the beverage that is typically offered to friends and visitors. Drinking attaya is seen to promote conversation and maintain friendship because it takes a long time to prepare properly.[2] Indeed, some authors have referenced the act of making ataya as a form of practical relaxation along with meditation and yoga.[3]

Senegalese-style attaya is served in three separate stages, called "the three concoctions":

Chinese green tea leaves are put into the teapot with some water and mint leaves and boiled over a charcoal stove. Sugar is added to the teapot and the tea is poured into small glasses of a certain height and then poured back and forth from the glass to the teapot several times so that foam appears in the glass. The thicker the foam, the better the tea.[4]

One cookbook of African recipes recommends serving the tea immediately with a generous amount of sugar:

The Western African style of serving involves holding the tea pot high above the table and pouring the hot tea at least twelve inches through the air into small glasses. (Glasses made of glass, not porcelain cups.) If the sugar is added to the pot, the tea is sometimes poured from the glasses back into the pot (before anyone has sipped) and the process is repeated. This mixes the sugar into the tea. Western Africans generally drink their tea very sweet.[5]

The first glass has been described as having an intense sweetness that cancels out a strident tannic bitterness to give a shot that is almost narcotic in its effect.[6] The second glass is sweeter and the third is very sweet but much reduced in its bitterness because the same leaves are used to prepare all three glasses.

Words used in various ethnic languages to refer to the tea, the tiny metal teapot and the mint are typically borrowed from Arabic, pointing to the idea that Senegalese mint tea is of Moorish origin.[7]

More than 80% of the population from 15 to 60 years of age drink tea. Studies have shown that due to the high concentration of fluoride in green tea, the practice may aid in preventing dental diseases, specifically dental caries.[8]

In music

[edit]

The cultural importance of Senegalese tea drinking was underlined in the song Ataya, a track on Ismaël Lô's 1986 album, Natt.

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Green Tea with Mint". The Congo Kuk (African Recipes). Retrieved October 9, 2011.
  2. ^ "Countries of the Francophone: The Musée de la Femme "Henriette Bathily", Senegal: Preparing Tea". Canadian Heritage Information Network. Retrieved October 9, 2011.
  3. ^ Calm: Secrets to Serenity from Cultures of the World, Lonely Planet 2013, page 65
  4. ^ "Countries of the Francophone: The Musée de la Femme "Henriette Bathily", Senegal: Preparing Tea". Canadian Heritage Information Network. Retrieved October 9, 2011.
  5. ^ "Green Tea with Mint". The Congo Cookbook (African Recipes). Retrieved October 9, 2011.
  6. ^ Calm: Secrets to Serenity from Cultures of the World, Lonely Planet 2013, page 65
  7. ^ "Countries of the Francophone: The Musée de la Femme "Henriette Bathily", Senegal: Preparing Tea". Canadian Heritage Information Network. Retrieved October 9, 2011.
  8. ^ Yam AA; Kane AW; Cisse D; Gueye MM; Diop L; Agboton P; Faye M. "Traditional tea drinking in Senegal. A real source of fluoride intake for the population". Odontostomatol Trop. 22: 25–8. PMID 11372150.
[edit]

Videos showing attaya tea drinking customs:

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Senegalese_tea_culture&oldid=1222565299"