_ 127 _ traces of Portugal on this burning, dusty coast? If we look carefully, we can find more echoes than it at first appears. There is a drink”, he writes, called kaoáh. It comes from a seed, very similar to small dry beans, which comes from Arabia. The beverage is thick, almost black, and if it has any taste at all it tends to be bitter. For those who wish to drink it is served very hot in cups, which they hold in their hands, seated, blowing and sipping it. Those who drink it say that it is “good for the stomach, prevents flatulence and haemorrhoids and stimulates the appetite(A). It was precisely in these terms that desert coffee was recommended to me for the first time. The presence of the Portuguese still persists in the memory of the peoples of the Gulf. [Fallaka] is an island situated in the extreme north of the Gulf, near Kuwait, (A) Pedro Teixeira. Relaciones de los Reyes de Persia, 1610, Book I, Ch. VI pag. 19 - “There is a kind of drink much consumed throughout Turkey, Arabia and Persia; it is a seed, very similar to small dry beans. It is brought from Arabia, roasted in buildings for that purpose; the decoction is thick, extremely black and tasteless, and if it does have any taste it is weak and ever so slightly bitter. All those who want it gather in these buildings, and in small Chinese porcelain cups which hold four to five ounces they give it to those who ask for it, and they take them very hot in their hands, blowing and boiling. Those who habitually drink it say that it is good for the stomach, for wind and piles, and that it awakens the appetite.
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