Sudanese cinnamon tea

Cinnamon tea - Sudan

In wrapping up our tour of the Middle East and North Africa, we come to Sudan. Sudan is south of Egypt, but was still included in the list of countries considered North Africa (according to the Encyclopedia Britannica). The northern part of the country is in the Sahara desert, with a tropical climate in the south. It has a small coast on the Red Sea, and is reported as mostly flat with mountains in the east and the west. Most people think of the African continent as being all the same (or even one country in extreme cases). It is actually a very diverse continent. I had some trouble figuring out how to divide it up at first. I didn't want to define the continent by the colonial rulers, so I decided to break it up by ordinal directions. North Africa considers itself to be more part of Europe or the Middle East. The Sahara desert is a natural barrier that divides the north from the south.

I remember flying over the Sahara. I'm not sure which countries I flew over between Amsterdam and Nairobi. I remember miles and miles of nothingness in beige. Everything seemed to be the same color, even the occasional building or road. I remember seeing a round stadium, with a dusty field open to the sky, and a long road that almost disappeared in the dust, and then another round stadium exactly like the first, except for the bright green on the sport field. I'm convinced that it had to be Astro Turf because nothing that unnatural color of green could survive out there. Suffice it to say, it looked really out of place. I also remember seeing these odd, perfectly circular dark patches from time to time. I think that they were probably fields with a central mount irrigation system. I'm not sure what they would be growing if these were agricultural fields, but Egyptian cotton, and cottons grown in this region in general, are considered the highest quality in the world. Cotton fibers from plants grown in dry regions are more absorbent than cotton fibers from plants grown in wetter regions (thank you textiles and clothing degree).

The African continent is known in the west for conflicts, famine, immorality, and poverty. While these things do exist on this continent, they exist on all the other continents as well. The people who live there are trying to get by and raise their families, just like everyone else in the world. They also drink tea. Some of the top world producers of tea (and coffee) are countries in Africa, so think twice before dissing them when you reach for your morning cup.

All the students I met in Kenya spoke a minimum of 3 languages. English is the language of academia, Swahili is the common language spoken by the population (the Swahili tribe lived on the coast, and traders and explorers brought the language inland making it the common language for communication), and their "mother tongue" which is the language of their tribe. If someone had parents from 2 different tribes, they knew 2 mother tongues. They also said that they could "get by" in the mother tongue of tribes that were closely related to their own. I was quite impressed.

 Now, let's make some tea!

Anyone who knows me knows that I love cinnamon. At least they should know, especially if they have read my graham cracker recipe (it lists the amount in the original recipe, then the amount I use). So Sudan has good taste as far as I'm concerned. It's also an easy preparation.

 

I tossed 2 pieces of cinnamon in a pan with 1.5 cups (375 ml) water, and brought to a boil. I added 1.5 teaspoons of tea (I think 1 teaspoon would have been better - this tea is strong. It suggests having milk added to serve, so I think it is intentionally strong to stand the dilution). I simmered for 5 minutes and strained into a cup. 

It has a nice reddish color. It also has a nice cinnamon flavor. For as much as I love cinnamon, I don't like cinnamon bagged tea. It always ends up being bitter and too strong, even with short steeping times. Cinnamon sticks give the tea a nice, mellow cinnamon flavor, but a little goes a long way. The 2 pieces of cinnamon I used had actually been used to make 2 previous pots of tea, and I don't know that they have another pot of tea in them. The nice thing about water only teas is that you can save out certain ingredients, dry them, and reuse them. 

 Next week we will be moving on to West Africa. All the info pics about the African continent are from the Blank Park Zoo's African Savanna display (because I am the type of grown woman who will totally go to the zoo by herself. I chose my study abroad program on the basis of getting to go on a game ride on the Serengeti, so I have always liked this kind of thing.