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A cuppa for the soul

World Coffee Day
Last Updated 30 September 2016, 18:35 IST

Even though I grew up in North India and spent most of my married life in the UAE, one thing that no change could stamp out of me was my love for filter coffee.

I don’t just find refreshment and energy in my morning coffee, I find the taste of my mother’s cooking and hear the sound of my father’s morning prayers. It’s home, it’s culture, it’s identity,” says Anuradha Sriram, a consultant.

Coffee means different things to different people. To many, their bond with this beverage is as important as any other relationship. On World Coffee Day, coffee lovers wake up once again with a smile on their faces because they know that this day needs to be celebrated.

However, with changing palates and increased experimentation with ingredients in the kitchen, coffee has also evolved and made its mark in the contemporary food world. In various forms like a latte or a coffee mousse or even the classic tiramisu, the dark concoction is here to stay.

Farrukh Aziz Ansari, a food photographer and stylist, loves her cup of coffee each morning.

With a passion for cooking and a fondness for experimenting with dishes, coffee is one of the main ingredients that she likes to bake with. She says, “I try making something different using coffee powder or concoction. One of my much-praised recipes is the ‘Espresso panna cotta with plum compote’. The rich flavour of coffee and the sweet plum compote is a match made in heaven.”

She has also tried her hand at baking a ‘whole wheat cake with streusel’. “It was soft and moist and my family loved it. The cake was well-balanced and made for the perfect combination with a cuppa,” she says with a smile.

Taking things to another level with the ingredient is Elaine Young, the pastry chef at ‘Bliss Chocolates’. She says, “Bengaluru in general has a particular love for coffee, especially filter coffee. That’s why we’ve created a pecan nut and coffee chocolate which is a big hit right now. The nutty aromatic flavour of the pecan nut and the bitterness of the coffee brought out the flavour of the chocolate that we were looking for.”

As coffee and chocolates are a classic combination, Elaine says that many food lovers are moving away from the completely sweet options to others that are high in cocoa flavours. “This new flavour palate helps as the coffee is a bitter ingredient to add to the chocolate,” she adds.

As for Naveen Suresh, a blogger, his day begins and ends with a hot cup of coffee without sugar. “I am a coffee addict and I’m very proud of it. I recently went to an event where we paired different types of sugarless coffee with chocolate and other sweets. That’s when I realised that you can enjoy coffee in a different format and I’m loving it now.” However, he also never misses a chance to enjoy his favourite dessert, tiramisu.

He explains, “This dessert has everything that I look for to complete my meal. But I think the highlight is the espresso used in it.” From those with changing flavour palates to others who like to keep it classic, one thing that everyone agrees with is — ‘coffee doesn’t ask silly questions, coffee understands.’


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(Published 30 September 2016, 15:56 IST)

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