By Elena Shap - November 24, 2022
There’s a whiff of woody cinnamon as you enter Café Abu Salem in Nazareth’s Old Market quarter. The source of this spicy aroma is an orange-tinted tea being prepared in a large silver kettle over a gas flame.
Exactly as it has been done since Andraos Abu Salem opened his coffee shop in 1914 when the country was still under Ottoman rule.
The name of this baladi (local) drink, as it is listed on the menu, is Aynar, and it’s served in traditional tulip-shaped Turkish teacups with a sprinkling of chopped walnuts on top.
Wassem Abu Salem, the 45-year-old owner and grandson of the founder, is grinding the secret spice mix for the drink with a pestle.
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