Café con leche throughout

Spain and Gibraltar

Coffee spread from Ethiopia through the great port of Moka on the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, into Yemen and the Arabian peninsula, where it was cultivated and from where the Arabica coffee variety takes its name. By the sixteenth century, it was transported to Turkey and the rest of the Ottoman Empire. There it was roasted on bonfires, acquiring its color and a wonderful aroma that spread through the air of Muslim lands, carrying the secrets to achieving health, strength, and virility. Coffee drinking became widespread. The bean then continued its journey toward Persia, Egypt, and Syria.

The coffee beans and the beverage prepared from them were from then on regarded as a luxurious stimulant. Middle Eastern legends tell about a black beverage that inspires love and loyalty, heals the sick, comforts the exhausted, and allows long nights of prayer and meditation.

So last week I arrived from Spain and realized café con leche is their favorite drink we inherited whey the colonized our territories. I flew from Panama to New York then after a couple of days with my granddaughter and daughter –funny how the granddaughter now comes first to mind, I flew to Madrid. I had to stay awake the first day in order to avoid jet lag, so I had the obligation, and immense pleasure of ordering café con leche all afternoon, and night since dinner was set for 10 p.m. Actually on of the great things of avoiding jet lag in Spain is that their hours almost coincide with the time change. We had breakfast almost at noon, lunch around 3 and dinner at 10 or 11. Went to bed by 3 and so the actual time change was only of about 3 hours! Wonderful time we had in Spain.

My youngest daughter was there for her semester abroad and we had this amazing mother daughter Easter week, with a couple extra days. So there was no need for her to be up early, at least when I was there; lucky me! Next day after I left she had 9 am class at the Carlos III University 45 minutes by train from the city. Well, we all did those things when we were young; it was fun back then to sleep 3 hours one day and 12 the next.

Back to café con leche, I tasted all of the café con leche in the city. We had the time to stop at street cafes which we did, and drink my beloved café con leche with some amazing whole grain breads, crusty outside with seeds and grain, soft and airy inside. One thing I couldn’t do was to dip the bread in the café con leche as we used to when we were kids. I missed this. I believe I took pictures at all the different cups of coffee I was drinking, hope to get some back from my daughter, but was able so send some to my family to tease the somewhat. I was having the time of my life.

As we traveled south, on train, we took a real road trip, first all the way south to Gibraltar. That tiny English piece of land, or rock may I say that is an amazing place to be at. I would have never thought I would go there by train, at least. May be on boat, or cruise, but inland at Gibraltar was not on my bucket list. Well let me tell you they serve café con leche at tea time, as well as tea, of course. There our sleep got a bit more updated, for the next part of the trip back to Spain.

As we arrived in Granada, we were ready to see the processions for Holy Week; the town was bursting with people. Now café con leche seemed more imminent and maybe necessary. We had to keep our eyes wide open to all that was going on. We walked up to THE ALHAMBRA, almost died, especially when I realized we could have taken a cab up tose 750 meters up, at a 45 degree angle. ‘More café con leche for Pachi?’ No… Then it was water, water, water. I thought I was going to melt. It was 30 degrees, with a cool wind in the shade, but not too much shade except for the plaza coffee shop.

We also wanted to watch the procession with all the beautiful religious and art pieces, as well as the dresses or costumes that were being worn. I felt as if I was back in time, and we were all watching from a bubble. There were hundreds of people on the street, walkers and watchers. Every one was in a great mood; it was the rising, the party, the day to dress up in coat and tie.

We arrived at Seville much sooner than we had expected. A larger town with a feel like my Colombian town of Cartagena: built by the Spaniards during the Conquista. But best of all, was the personality of the people here. To me they felt like a mixture of the dark English satiric sense of humor, and the relaxed, foul-mouthed, seaman of my Caribbean. I felt at home, being the granddaughter of a Scottish boat captain and born in the Caribbean town of Barranquilla in Colombia. My mother’s mother was Italian, so there you have a mixture that some say to my husband is very hard to understand. I love it, the stranger or crazier people think you are, the more honest you can be and not be judged. Lets make it clear though, I never talk bad about others, but maybe a lot about me.

Back to café con leche, it was in Seville that I found the most amazing people while waiting in line to pay for the only terrible dinner I had on my whole trip. It was Sunday after resurrection, and everything was packed full by 10 p.m. So we sat at this place that had space, no wonder, and were served chicken and beef with out even salt. We walked back to the hotel, laughing about our courage to go out without a reservation and expect something else. So as we arrived we decided we needed something sweet and good to fill our unhappy tummies. Unlucky at first the kitchen was closed, almost midnight. But amazing as you might think, the man opened the kitchen, un locked the freezers and came to our room with 4 cups of amazing ice cream and sorbet. Oh my God, those were the best treats we had during the whole trip. Midnights joking in bed, with 4 cupfuls of ice cream that began disappearing minute by minute until we finally ate it all. Now we felt like we needed café con leche, nooo…, plain dark coffee to digest all that food. We couldn’t but we wished and had to stay up for almost two hours before going to bed with a full stomach that meant a definite nightmare.

With love you to and to my daughters for your time.

Pachi

Lives of Coffee: The Hands That Feed

Argelia is a cook. Her life passes by peacefully, her days full of the greenery and joy that she provides the workers who arrive every day to eat her cooking. -no need for Prozac here. She works from Monday to Friday and rests Saturday and Sunday. She gets ready for the following week when she is told the number of people who will be working and eating her delicious stews and breads. She is a tall, dark-haired, handsome woman. Her house is white with red windows and door, and a tiled roof. There are flower pots all around it and near the house she has planted plantains, peppers, and lemon trees to make lemonade, wood for her kitchen and lots of love. There is also a cross, made of bamboo or what we call guadua, that is over two meters long and about which I’m embarrassed to ask, it is all about nature, the Lives of Coffee and those who live and die around it.

In her kitchen we find clean pots, shiny as mirrors, hanging on the wall, ready to be used. On the fire there are cast iron pots with steaming sancocho, rice, and thick red beans that she prepares daily, as they are a must for the evening menu. She looks out her kitchen window at her daughter while we talk. Then she comes out and offers us some guava juice from guavas picked from a tree in her garden, sweet and refreshing for an afternoon like today, when we have walked the field looking for ideal picture locations to show you about the Lives of Coffee. Her husband, silently sitting at a table, keeps her company today because he is convalescing. Her daughter helps her during the afternoon chores and is never far from her mother, whom we listen to and photograph.

Argelia cooks daily on a fixed schedule for seventy or so workers with big appetites. At dawn she offers them a tinto, a hot cup of aromatic black coffee to send them off to work. A couple of hours later, while it is still cold, it’s breakfast time. While she heats the water to make agua de panela and prepares thick, smooth chocolate, she bakes the arepas made of just-ground corn, which she will serve hot and golden. Thus concludes the first morning stage, of her Lives of Coffee, which gives the workers the strength to pick coffee until midday. When the sun hits strongest and the air has changed and become warmer, everyone returns to Argelia’s for lunch. She varies the menu every day; it can be a sancocho with yucca and plantain, rice soup, pasta and meat, or other comforting and nutritious favorites from the land, that send the workers back to their daily tasks loaded with energy and vitality after having shared that touch of life provided by the kitchen’s boss. The sun sets, the daily tasks conclude, and once supper is prepared, the workers return. They remain at Argelia’s until late, resting or playing tejo or cards or merely chatting, before rising again the following day at 5:30 to enjoy the sendoff tinto. One day in the Lives of Coffee.

Cook with coffee -Salmon and Portobello

When you Cook with coffee -Salmon and Portobello you will be forever hooked to cooking with coffee. With the advantage of all the antioxidative properties of coffee and others, this will be one of your favorite dishes ever.

Balsamic Salmon and Portobellos

2 servings

Two 6-ounce or one 12-ounce salmon fillet

1 large or 2 medium Portobello mushrooms, sliced 1/8-inch thick

1 teaspoon salt

3/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup orange juice

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons fish stock

3 tablespoons honey

1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon julienne basil (about 10 basil leaves; see Tip, page 000)

2 teaspoons freeze-dried or granulated instant coffee

1. Cut the fish into 2-inch pieces and place them and the sliced Portobello in a shallow nonreactive bowl. Sprinkle with ½ teaspoons salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper.
2. In a bowl combine the orange juice, balsamic vinegar, stock, honey, mustard, basil, coffee, and the remaining ½ teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Mix until the honey is well dissolved and pour over the fish and mushrooms. Refrigerate for 15 to 30 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 450ºF.
4. Transfer the fish, mushrooms, and marinade to a baking pan.
5. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes for medium.
6. Divide the fish and mushrooms slices onto 2 serving plates, and spoon over any sauce from the pan. Serve.

Eventhough the page translates, I decided to add it in Spanish simply because I already had it in my docs. All other recipes can also be traslated, and blogs, with the TRASNLATE button on the right hand side of the blog.

Portobello with coffee

Salmón con Hongos al Café

2 porciones

Dos filetes de salmón de 6 onzas cada uno

1 a 2 hongos portobellos cortados en tiritas

1 cucharadita sal

3/8 cucharadita pimienta

1/2 taza jugo de naranja

2 cucharadas vinagre balsámico

2 cucharadas caldo de pescado

3 cucharadas miel

1 1/2 cucharaditas mostaza Dijon

1 cucharada albahaca en Juliana, aprox. 10 hojas

2 cucharaditas café instantáneo

1. Agregue al salmón 1/2 cucharadita de sal y 1/4 de cucharadita de pimienta.
2. Mezcle aparte jugo de naranja, vinagre, caldo, miel, mostaza, café y el resto de sal y pimienta. Mezcle bien y vierta sobre el salmón y los portobellos. Refrigere 10 minutos.
3. Precaliente el horno a 450ºF.
4. Pase el salmón y los hongos a un molde de hornear cubierto con papel de aluminio y engrasado.
5. Hornee de 10 a 12 minutos.
6. Divida en dos porciones y sirva.

 TRY BAKING THE SALMON IN A PLANTAIN LEAF OR A CORN HUSK

AREPA BAKED IN PLANTAIN LEAF

Enjoy this amazing recipe….