Bou Saada coffee, 108 years of well-kept secret
In the Algerian city of Bou Saada , nicknamed the city of “Al-Qahwajien”, that is to say coffee lovers. At the old entrance to the ancient city of Bou Saada, 250 km south of the capital Algiers , in the old popular district “Marti”, is the oldest cafe in the city of Bou Saada, which has nearly a century and a decade. A visitor to the city can hardly pass the sign “Bou Saada welcomes you” until the aroma of ground coffee attracts him to enjoy it.
Café Al-Naseem, the liberal café
Coffee lovers sit outside and spend long hours without getting bored (Credit: Al Jazeera)
The establishment of this former café dates back almost a century and a decade, when Mohamed Guidar's first grandfather transformed it from a nightclub to a Café in 1914, where he was affiliated with the French settlers who occupied Algeria at the time.
There is no place among coffee connoisseurs unless you are a leader in this field. This is a rule followed by Muhammad Guidar (50), owner of “Café Al-Naseem” for 30 years, who inherited it from his grandfather and father, and he has been successful in the shop for 4 generations .
The architect of the Algerian revolution, Abban Ramadan, called the café “Al-Naseem”, in reference to the beautiful air of the city. French colonialism saw this cafe as a threat to its security, so it sent Guidar's father warning messages urging him not to embrace gatherings of revolutionaries and libertarians, especially after Association meetings had been held. Muslim scholars.
Today's coffee
The cafe is still in its old style with some renovations (Credit: Al Jazeera)
To the music of Bedouin song pioneer Khelifi Ahmed, Café Al-Naseem fans start their day, sitting at old wooden tables or standing, customers waiting for their coffee, which Muhammad brings repeating music videos in his Bedouin voice. with the old tape recorder he puts away in his shop.
A cafe with an area of no more than 30 square meters, it was able to collect stories from history and transmit to the new generation the life of their predecessors through the details of the shop: an old stone wall, a ceiling with juniper strings, small windows overlooking the city details of culture and originality happily.
The secret of Al-Naseem coffee
The owner of Café Al-Naseem takes care of his coffee (Credit: Al Jazeera)
“Whoever drinks Al-Naseem coffee returns to the city of Bousaada” is the opinion of many customers of Café Al-Naseem, who insist on asking the shop owner for the secret of the flavor of his coffee, and he responds with a smile to those who do not want to reveal it.
Omar, 28, jokes: “The WikiLeaks leak makes more sense than leaking the Al-Naseem coffee recipe to the Guidar family,” while young Ziani Mourad believes the coffee's particularity lies in its age. "My grandfather was always a customer here, after him my father, and today I am."
Jezwa coffee, or what is known in Tunisia as Dakkakah, and in other countries, is served as “Sada Bou Wjah”, but with the addition of a group of steppe (wild) herbs which grow in the semi-desert region of the city of Bou Saada.
Al-Naseem coffee has a special recipe that only the cafe's owner has known for over a century (Credit: Al Jazeera)
The shop owner said, "We add jelly grass, wormwood, and other ingredients to the coffee," and he also offers hot beverages made with wild herbs from the region, such as the drink "Al -Day".
“Al-Jour” is prepared with rosemary, thyme, juniper, wormwood and other herbs. The shop is also known as the local so-called “hot” drink, which Guidar says is made from “galanga”. , ginger, cinnamon, mint and other herbs.
Al-Naseem cafe is one of the tourist attractions of Bou Saada, and it is no less important than the Nasreddine Dinet museum or the Fererro mill.
The public visits him standing to order his coffee, ambassadors, ministers and well-known personalities. Here everyone is equal like sips of coffee.
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