It’s Saturday morning, 7:30 AM… and could you guess what I’m doing while writing this story? Ohh yeeaaaa… having a rich, robust, semi-creamy, no sugar added bowl, that’s right, bowl of coffee. How could I not? What would life be without it? Oh yes I know… a peaceful calm existence… a place where I would be sane and rational, a world where road rage and work place tension would be pretty much nil…. Some of you might disagree; some of you can actually sleep on this stuff, many of you are calm after having a grande deluxe with two whips, a cane sugar blast and a caramel injection… not me, no sirree bob. I move like the wind and sting like a butterfly after my Joe. Oh my goodness Molly would be so happy if I woke up like a normal person and not run around the house in “go mode” cleaning and making triplicates of all my lists of things to do… It’s a magnificent lift in the morning, a spectacular boost in the afternoon, a cure for the blues, a somersault of energy, a happy happy go get’ em liquid.

So the big question I have for all of you out there on flavor highway is this: Is coffee a drug? You might be thinking, “WHAT?!, how dare you insinuate that!”. Oh I don’t know, sometimes I think we just forget that it is, and we are oh so romantic about sipping a latte on the terrace, and make up all kinds of fancy names for it and use all kinds of paraphernalia in the process of making it. Coffee is a drug just as alcohol and nicotine are drugs. And don’t forget Twinkies!

Anyway, what brought me to this long-winded coffee rant is the picture you see attached to the story. We ate at a Turkish restaurant called Troya in the avenues and had an amazing meal prepared by Chef Brian Dudley, a dear friend and occasional HOG chef. For dessert he brought out three mad delicious desserts and this elaborate coffee presentation. Bring on the hookah while you’re at it, will ya! It just reminded me of how crazy we are about the most wonderful drug out there. And even though there might be a touch of organized crime attached to it, no one is robbing stores to get at it. For the most part it’s a very social beverage that makes the world sing out loud, move like the wind, accomplish the impossible, and get their lazy butts out of bed… so go on, enjoy a cup, mug or bowl of it!

Aloha, Chef Stephen, Hands On Gourmet 

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 28th, 2007 at 6:09 pm and is filed under Food Experiences. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.