Theres is nothing better than waking up to the aroma of agood cup of coffee, first thing in the morning to kick start your day and takeyou out of the slumber and into a brand new day. It’s an ingredient that can besweet as well as savoury, and along with some benefits it also is bad for healthin some ways, but we all love it. There are various claims and counter claims,and all findings are debated and are widely disputed. The energizing effects ofcoffee were most likely discovered in the 15th century in the Sufi shrines ofYemen. The caffeine content in coffee is what stimulates humans; making it thesingle most consumed drink, and is also one of the highest traded agriculturalcommodities in the world. The aroma stimulates appetite and sniffing the beanswhile cooking restores appetite, In fact coffee beans are used to cleanse thenasal passage of any residual aromas and are used when sampling perfume.
Coffee, made from roasting the seed found in the cherries ofthe coffea plant, can be used in the production of beverages, cakes, pastries,desserts and even in savoury dishes. The addition of alcohol to this alreadystimulating ingredient adds an additional dimension to its impeccableflavour. There are various liqueurs andcreams available, that can be drunk, added to desserts and stuffed inchocolates. Mocha a term referring to a combination of coffee and chocolate isvery popular as the sweetness of the chocolate and the bitterness of the coffeecomplement each other very well. The mocha cupcakes at Bodega, the mocha pastryat Pastelaria and the mocha coffee at café Mocha are fine examples of thisdelectable union. Coffee cakes, coffee ice cream and banoffee pie, for the sakeof the uninitiated, a banana, custard and coffee pie, are all deliciouscreations from this humble seed. Coffee can be used in savoury food as well,and grilled pork chops with coffee barbeque sauce, lamb in a coffee sauce,coffee risotto and bourbon nut bread are famous coffee inspired dishes.
Just the beverage on its own has countless combinations andstyles of consumption, varying in the degree of strength, methods of productionand its amalgamation with other complimentary ingredients. Most people drink itblack and strong, in Europe the preference is espresso, where scalding water ispassed through freshly ground coffee beans with high pressure instantly brewingit and forming a layer of cream on the top. Everywhere else people drink filtercoffee, where the method is the same but it is not pressurized and passesthrough a paper filter, and is lighter and drunk in larger quantities.Additions of syrups like caramel, hazelnut, and butterscotch lends an exotictwist to a normal coffee. With all theill effects that coffee supposedly has it still is and will always be thefavourite. They say coffee keeps you up but others say sleep is a symptom ofcoffee deprivation.
Vasco Alvares or Vasquito is a chef extraordinaire whose daystarts and ends in the kitchen. On the menu is where he will dish out advice,knowledge and culinary nous
