National Coffee Day

     Today is September 29th, National Coffee Day.  It's a little known day where coffee lovers of the world can enjoy their unobserved "holiday".  There are numerous shops throughout the country that are giving away free coffee in observance of coffee day, what could be better than morning coffee, free coffee.  There are approximately 111 million coffee lovers worldwide and it's projected that nearly 440 billion cups of coffee are sold and consumed each year.  Those are amazing numbers.  This is exactly why coffee is one of the most profitable import/export businesses in the world.

     When researching National Coffee Day, there isn't much information out there about how or when it was started.  What we do know is that it was started within the last decade and more than likely by the large coffee retailers to help with marketing.  Regardless, I think it's about time.  There is a designated day for so many things out there, why not coffee.

     Get out there and have some coffee.  Try some of those weird, off-the-wall beverages that we hear about but never want to try.  One in particular is Kopi Luwak.  This is a coffee bean where an Asian Palm Civet eats the berries and passes it.  Then it's collected, cleaned, and roasted.  When brewed, this bean produces a cup of coffee with a much more mellow flavor than most.  As long as it's roasted properly, the bitterness should be significantly lower than what we're used to.  There appears to be one negative aspect to this coffee though.  Supposedly, it averages between $155-$160 per pound.  I'm TOTALLY trying this coffee!!

    

Simplicity

     This is a post that could go on forever.  There are so many unbelievable transformations that can happen with food using ingredients that are not often seen in a kitchen.  For instance, have you ever heard of a carbonated blackberry?  What about caramel salt, not salted caramel?  Ever had Brie that was blown-up and resembled sea foam or how about an Edible Photograph? 

     There are so many more amazing transformations that can take place that I wouldn't even know where to begin.  Molecular Gastronomy is the term that most people would apply to food preparations like this but for some chefs, such as Grant Achatz of Alinea, he would actually tell you that he hates this terminology.  While Chef Achatz needs to understand the science of his food, he doesn't like to call it "science".

     I've met so many people over the years that are on either side of the fence when it comes to cooking.  Classical French cuisine still intrigues people that are much younger than me, even though the new trend is to fuse cuisines together and/or manipulate the same product with chemicals to create impressive, edible showpieces.

     While I am interested in the food that chefs like Richard Blais, Wylie Dufresne, and Grant Achatz create, it's just something that I've never really tried to do.  No matter what style that I've tried over the years, I just can't seem to break away from what I like, simplicity.  After thinking over the menus that I've created in my career, they have always been straight forward and simple.  I never liked to add so much to a plate that it's hard to decipher what you're eating.  Here's an example.

     I was one of the Sous Chef's at the last restaurant that I worked at and we had to create a special tasting menu every Saturday night.  We tried to make something different every weekend and after a few months, it became increasingly difficult since the money we were given to spend was rather limited.  Because of this, we typically kept our menus light, yet interesting.  One particular menu went as follows:

Fried Oyster Martini

Stone Ground Mustard Cream Sauce, Jalapeno Aioli

Seared Scallops

Sweet Corn & Bacon Risotto, Chimichurri, Shaved Parmesan

Chocolate Lavender Pot de Creme

Grand Mariner Chantilly