Attaya — Print Recipe — The Culinary Codex

A ceremonial three-round tea service of strong green tea with fresh mint and generous sugar, poured with theatrical height to create a signature froth. This ritual is the social cornerstone of Mauritanian culture.

Ingredients

3 tbsp Chinese gunpowder green tea
1 large bunch fresh mint
8 tbsp sugar (divided across 3 rounds)
4 cups water
Ice (optional for first rinse)

Instructions

1 Rinse the tea leaves in a small amount of boiling water and discard the first rinse to remove bitterness.
2 Add fresh water and a portion of sugar to the teapot with the rinsed leaves. Boil for 5 minutes.
3 Add fresh mint leaves and continue brewing for 3 more minutes.
4 Pour from a great height into small glasses to create froth, then pour back into the pot. Repeat three times.
5 Serve the first round, which is strong and bitter like life. Refill pot with water and more sugar for round two.
6 The second round is moderate and sweet like love, the third is gentle and very sweet like death.

Did You Know?

Refusing Mauritanian tea is considered deeply offensive — the proverb says the first glass is bitter as life, the second sweet as love, the third gentle as death.