Unattended package

For almost 18 months I have had a large 1 kg package stored at the back of my Tea/Coffee/Sugar cupboard, just above where our electric kettle stands.

For the numerous guests who make themselves at home in that cupboard, they must have wondered why on earth the packet has sat there for so long. Some may have wondered what it was, as the writing on it is written in Arabic and Hebrew.

The reason for its abandonment, I simply haven't had the heart to open it. Have I got you wondering? Well, it is the most amazing ground coffee flavoured with cardamom. I had bought the proper little pot to make it in, but didn't want to waste the coffee opening it just for myself, as my better half didn't think he'd be able to handle the strength of the brew.

There is a story attached to this bag of coffee (you knew that didn't you?). Last year, when I was travelling in Israel, I met a lovely family in Nazareth who gave me extravagant hospitality in their home. The morning I left, the husband of the family made me breakfast, which included this delightful coffee. I raved about it so much, en route to dropping me at the bus station, he pulled over to one of the little "sell everything" shops that Israel is famous for, and came out with the humungous bag of coffee.

Fast forward to the day I left the country. I had put the coffee in my checked in suitcase. True to form, tourists often get selected for a long search of their bags, prior to exiting the country. Doesn't worry me, they are only doing their job. But when I got pulled over, I suddenly panicked. "Help, the bag of coffee!". I honestly didn't know if it was OK to take foodstuff like this on the plane, even though it was in a new bag with a proper seal. The lady security officer pulled it out. "Where did you get this?", I mentioned the shop in Nazareth "I can't get this kind of coffee in my country, and I'm a bit of an addict". "Where are you from?" she asked. When I told her, she gave me a reply I never expected in a thousand years. "Really, I come from there too. I made aliyah a few years ago". So, the security check turned into a girlie catch up session.

This Sunday we had some guests in our home who I knew would appreciate the coffee, but I was a bit nervous to try and make it in the proper pot on the stove. I tried, and made a horrible bubbling mess. Then the husband of the couple, bless him for a hundred years, said "Why not make it in the espresso pot?". Genius!!!!!

So now I am enjoying the freedom of a middle eastern style breakfast which is lifting my spirits no end as I have a shocking cold and am tempted to feel very sorry for myself.