COFFEE

I drink it out of habit and for pleasure. It is the first thing many people have in the morning. It’s a drink to share with a friend, when you need a break, and when you are low.

I like it black, espresso and freshly ground coffee, but over the years I’ve compiled coffee recipes for all tastes. Here we are two of the more exotic:

• Coffee from the coffee plantations. I got this recipe from Vani, who is Colombian. This is how people brew coffee in coffee plantations, and many houses in Colombia, where they always have a “coffee pot” ready to drink. They use roasted coffee beans, ground to a powder consistency. They put a pot with more or less one liter of water (approx, that’s how the people who have spent years making it do so) and put it to boil. When it starts to boil add 4/5 spoonful of coffee powder and wait until the coffee rises to avoid spilling. Then let stand until the sediment is deposited at the bottom of the pot. You can drink this coffee pouring sugar to taste. It is a liquid coffee (not creamy ) with a  strong, bitter taste.

• Coffee of the Indies. I read this recipe more than 20 years ago in a magazine, and every now and then I like to prepare it. You need a teaspoon of butter at room temperature, add a teaspoon of cane sugar, less than half a teaspoon of cinnamon, a pinch of nutmeg, and then work everything together  until you get a brown paste. Make it in a ball form and prick two or three cloves in it. Let this preparation stand for one day, and then remove cloves, put a ball in each cup, and pour coffee. You’ll get a spicy coffee in a brown shade, no doubt different from your usual coffee taste.

Do you like a coffee?

Photo: Puig-reig 27/10/2013. On the table: Spring 2013 collection scarf.