Moka Pot Iced Coffee

Moka pots get their name from the Yemeni city Mocha (I always think of chocolate and coffee when I think Mocha but I guess that's the Westerner in me; maybe I should research the origin of THAT mocha.) It was designed by Luigi di Ponti in 1933 who was inspired by the washing machines of the time believe it or not. It was then mass produced by engineer Alfonso Bialetti (and this is the name generally attached to modern moka pots. They are typically made of aluminum but stainless steel varieties exist. Other varieties also stray from the traditional octagonal shape to rounder and sleeker versions.

Moka pots brew a different kind of coffee. The brew created is somewhere between coffee and espresso. The numbers I've found say it is 2-3 times as strong as coffee where espresso is 5-8 times as strong. Take that as you will as it’s clearly not an exact science. The brew is also, obviously, made in a different way, in fact it is quite the opposite to drip (or really any other brewing method) coffee. The water moves up through the grounds rather than allowing gravity to do the work. This means that there are no additional filters making it a low waste option and also a purer tasting coffee.

Moka pots and coffee are viewed as culturally significant in Italy (and elsewhere.) Coffee and coffeehouses were the beginning of this with coffee houses being the birthplace of many ideological and political movements in Europe including women’s coffee consumption being associated with the move to emancipation. The moka pot came along and facilitated the switch to espresso (or something similar) being a home drink rather than something you only go out for. This happened to coincide with an economic downturn in 1930’s Italy and so was kind of a big deal. Italians were able to keep coffee as an important part of their lives even though finances were taking a hit.

So now on to how to moka pot and one of my favourite ways to serve it.

Ingredients

Coffee grounds, medium to fine grind
Water
Ice

optional
To taste, Sugar
To taste, Milk, cream or dairy substitute of choice

Tools

Moka Pot
Kettle or pot
Spoon
Storage vessel: pitcher or jar
Drinking vessel (s)

Optional
Shaker

Directions

There are a few options here that I want to talk about quickly. If you want to be able to serve this at different sweetnesses I suggest a simple syrup and not sweetening the hot coffee. You can add as little or as much sugar or dairy product as you like to fit your tastes. You can pour hot coffee over ice but keep in mind this will weaken the coffee flavour, I like best to chill then pour over or shake with ice.

Okay, we’re going to start by brewing our coffee. To do this we want to boil water in a kettle (you can also use regular water in the bottom of your moka pot but it will take longer and you will be more likely to brew a very bitter coffee.)

Fill the bottom of your moka pot to the line, not under, not over, just to it. This is important for taste as well as safety! Fill the grounds cup to the top, smooth it and make sure the edges are clean. Reassemble your pot and place over medium heat on the stove.

The water will heat and start coming out of the spout. The user manual says to keep the lid closed but other tutorials say to keep it open so you know when it's done brewing. So my suggestion is do it with the lid closed and choose the other option at your own risk. If keeping it closed you will need to use your ears for when it is done.

At this point you have moka pot coffee. You can serve this as you would a strong cup of coffee/ a weak espresso OR you can make a delicious iced coffee with it. As I said before you can pour this over ice as is but it will water the coffee down with the melted ice. If you choose to do this I would go for an Americano style iced coffee. I prefer to chill my brew in the fridge and then shake with ice.

But first, are you sweetening with sugar or simple syrup? If using sugar it is necessary to do this while your coffee is still hot or the sugar will not dissolve! I go back and forth on this but today I will sweeten it while the coffee is hot by stirring in sugar before popping my jar in the fridge.

When the coffee has cooled to at least room temperature, the colder the better, I will begin building my drink. First I will add ice to my drinking vessel (a clear glass is best for the aesthetic.) I will then add ice to a cocktail shaker, pour coffee over it and shake until it's too cold to touch. Strain this cold coffee over the ice in my cup and top with my dairy product. If this works right you will get a nice layered affect for Instagram pictures!
 

 
 

Stir and consume!

Serving

You serve it as a cold drink. I generally don't serve this with anything beside the sunshine! A fun addition though could be flavoured syrups, honey or maple syrup instead of sugar! Make it mocha moka with chocolate. Try cinnamon, vanilla, chai or even get really wild with mint or fruit! If you're interested in making your own syrups let me know and I’ll do a mini post on simple syrups and how to flavour them!

Short and Gritty

1. Boil water
2. Fill grounds cup, level, do not tamp
3. Pour water to fill line, not below, not above
4. Reassemble moka pot and place on medium heat
5. Listen for a fizzing sounds, it means its done
6. Sweeten, chill, serve

Ingredient Spotlight: Coffee Beans

“Coffee - the favourite drink of the civilized world.”

About

Scientific Name: coffea arabica
Cultivation: cultivation of coffee began on the Arabian peninsula by the 15th century. By the 16th century it had spread to Persia, Egypt, Syria and Turkey. We can follow the cultivation through the years but the coolest part is that most plants now can be traced back to a gifted seedling from the mayor of Amsterdam to King Louis XIV in 1714. The king planted this seedling in the Royal Botanical Garden in Paris. Later, in 1723, a seedling was obtained from this plant and sent to Martinique, an island in the east Caribbean Sea. A young naval officer by the name of Gabriel de Clieu was the one assigned to this project and he was successful despite the horrendous weather, a saboteur and a pirate attack. By the end of the century coffee had become one of the world’s most profitable exports and after crude oil it is the most sought after commodity worldwide. Brazil claims more than 10 billion coffee plants and takes home crown as the largest producer of coffee in the world today.

More
There are two origin stories for the first human consumption of coffee both shrouded in mystery as they are stories passed down by word of mouth. The first tells of a goat herder named Khaldi from the Ethiopian plateau. His goats, after eating some bright red berries, were full of energy bouncing around and playing with no end to their energy in sight. They wouldn't sleep that night. He took these berries to the abbot of the local monastery and the monks there created a beverage out of them that helped them stay awake to pray through the night.

The second story is about a man, Mahomet, who received a dark drink from the Arch Angel Gabriel and went on to take 40 nights off of their horses (in battle) and satisfy 40 women in the same day. Talk about a stimulant!

The first written evidence of coffee comes from the Persian physician Razi (or Rhazes) who classified it as medicine rather than purely food or drink.

Coffee caught on as a replacement to other drinks, specifically alcohol, and took on the name Wine of Arabia or khave. The modern coffee house stems from this as coffee houses began to spring up all over the place following the coffee plants and popularity itself. The first documented one shows up in 1554 in Constantinople (Istanbul.) Coffee houses spread starting with Venice in 1645, England in 1650, France in 1672 and Boston in 1676 (and we’ll come back to both Venice and Boston.) Although coffee was enjoyed at home it was seen very much as a social drink as well. Similarly to our modern coffee houses (and events we now call coffee houses whether held at one or not) these places had entertainment and intellectual conversation as main tenets. They became known as Schools of the Wise and Penny universities as they spread from the Middle East to Europe and across the ocean.

So, Venice. In 1615 a controversy began as some of the locals, most specifically some of the clergymen wanted to bitter drink condemned over fear and suspicion calling it the, “invention of Satan.” The Pope at the time, Pope Clement VIII, decided to taste the beverage before making any rash decisions. He found it satisfying and gave it approval stating, “This Satan’s drink is so delicious. It would be a pity to let the infidels have exclusive use of it. We should cheat the devil by baptizing it.” And so he did, and with his blessing any negative spirits attached to the drink vanished and so the people could safely drink it.

And now Boston. Though that coffee house opened in Boston and some others may have followed, tea stayed the drink of choice for many Americans. In 1773 however King George III imposed a heavy tax on tea and there was a revolt. We know it today as the Boston Tea Party and it forever changed the drinking preferences in America. The quote at the beginning of this page from Thomas Jefferson is in reference to this, “Coffee - the favourite drink of the civilized world.”

Magical

Correspondences: Mars. Masculine/Yang. Fire, Earth and Air (arguably water when made into a beverage.) Arch Angel Gabriel, Chango. Root and Sacral Chakras.

Energy boost, grounding, happiness, luck, lust, romance, curse removal, dispel ghosts, hex removal, divination, nightmare protection, chakra booster, blockage removal, boost and speed up spell

How to use: as an offering, in sachets, divination of grounds like tea leaves, aromatherapy, kitchen witchery, body scrub, spell jars, bathing, cleansing

Mundane
Health

Another grocery list incoming of all the possible health benefits of coffee. Some of these are backed up with a lot of research and others not as much as per usual so take everything with the idea that you should look into it yourself and just use this as a jumping off point. An interesting thing to note is that a lot of this research shows results specific to women and that is a rarity in research so that's certainly a point to rejoice!

In women (afab is what I assume they mean by this): 26% less likely to develop colorectal cancer (with caff or decaf;) protection against Alzheiemer's (with 2 cups per day;) lowered risk of stroke (with one cup per day;) and less than 200gm of caffeine (or about 12 ounces) of coffee seems to be safe for those that are pregnant. With 4 cups of coffee per day (keep in mind that a lot of coffee and in turn a lot of caffeine) the risk of depression drops by 20%.

On to the stuff for everyone: Dark roast coffee may decrease the naturally occurring breakage of DNA strands meaning that it may help in preventing the formation of tumors and cancer; coffee improves general brain function and can be linked to some specifics as well including memory, mood, vigilance, energy and reaction times; caffeine (the stimulant part of coffee) may boost your metabolic rate (by 3 - 11%) and increase fat burning (by 10% for obese people and 29% for lean people and varying degrees in between;) these contributing factors can obviously lead to improved physical performance (11 - 12% on average; )may help prevent coronary heart disease, diabetes, kidney disease, and Parkinson's Disease (as well as help them control their movement.) Both regular and decaf may have a protective effect on your liver. From that same study (just the one study which is an important piece of information) above, 4 cups of coffee were shown to decrease likeliness of suicide by 53%.

In the Kitchen

We think of coffee beans being used as a beverage more often than not but coffee is great for adding or accentuating flavours. The most common flavour we see paired with coffee for an added kick is chocolate but believe it or not coffee can also add a new layer to more savoury dishes as well; rubs and marinades, vinaigrettes and chili can all be given a new and exciting life with a little coffee.

More

Can be used as an exfoliant in body scrubs ( best not used on the face or sensitive skin.)
It smells nice. Try putting it in a bowl surrounding a candle for a gentle coffee scent.

Mashed Potatoes - the Potato Saving Recipe

Origin

We talked on Thursday about how the French in particular had a very bad view of potatoes to the point of bringing about a law banning them for human consumption in 1748 and were thought to be a cause of leprosy! Potatoes however were still cultivated and used for animal fodder.

This changed for France during the 7 years war (1756 and 1763) and ironically it was a French man, specifically Antoine-Augustin Parmentiervwho was a military pharmacist, that came to realize that the French people had been wrong all along. And how wrong they were, potatoes could easily be classified as my favourite food thanks to their versatility. He was captured and given the choice between eating potatoes or starving to death. While imprisoned he began experimenting with the potato and found that they could actually be quite delicious.

Later, when he made his way back to France, he continued this experimentation. One of the ways he taught the people to cook them was by mashing them and this is one possible beginning of mashed potatoes the way we know them today.

He began a campaign in order to force the government to lift the ban on potatoes and they gave in in 1772.

There were however other books from the 18th century including from two female authors Hanna Glasse of England and Mary Rudolph of America. In, “The Art of Cookery,” Glasse explains the mashed potatoes recipe as: boil potatoes, put them in a saucepan and mash them well with milk, butter, and salt. A similar recipe is found in, “The Virginia Housewife,” by Rudolph.

The Recipe

Ingredients
all link on ingredients are to the ingredient spotlight posts of this blog

6 medium potatoes
~1 cup of milk (or cream, butter optional with cream)
2 tbsp butter

Salt and pepper to taste

Tools

Pot big enough for potatoes to be covered with water and not boil over
A potato masher, a fork if not available
Wet and dry measures
Colander

Optional spoon for more thorough stirring

Directions

I generally suggest peeling your potatoes however if you are using new potatoes this isn't necessary and adds a certain rustic-ness to your mash. If you are using russet potatoes though I think you’d be better off peeling.

After deciding if you’re peeling or not cube your potatoes. This doesn't have to be pretty, just make sure they're all about the same size. The smaller they are, the faster they'll cook but I wouldn't go smaller than 1.5 inches or so. I usually opt for quartering.

Place in the pot and cover with water plus about an inch. Bring to a boil over high heat and reduce to medium high until they are very easily pierced with a fork. Remember you're going to be mashing them so soft is good.

Drain them in a colander and put them back in your pot, do not place back on the heat. Add in half your milk (or cream) and all your butter and mash and mix until combined. Add in more milk or cream until you have the consistency that you want. I like stiff mashed potatoes with a little bit of a chunk to them but you may want smoother looser mash potatoes and that's fine too! Add in some salt and pepper, taste and adjust.

Serve!



Serving

Most often served as a side to meat like a roast; y’know the standard meat and potatoes thing. I also enjoy it as a substitute to the rice in beans and rice or simply on its own for a smaller meal. There are some fun things we can do with a little extra work and ingredients like duchess potatoes but you’ll have to wait for those.

Short and Gritty

Ingredients

6 medium potatoes
~1 cup of milk (or cream, butter optional with cream)
2 tbsp butter

Salt and pepper to taste

Tools

Pot big enough for potatoes to be covered with water and not boil over
A potato masher, a fork if not available
Wet and dry measures
Colander

Optional spoon for more thorough stirring

Directions

1. Peel and cube potatoes
2. Add to pot of water and bring to a boil
3. Boil until potatoes are soft
4. Strain in colander
5. Put back in pot, add half of milk and all butter
6. Mash and stir adding more milk until you have the consistency you like
7. Add salt and pepper to taste
8. Serve

Ingredient Spotlight: Potato

About

Scientific name: Solanum tuberosum
Cultivation: They bear white, pink, red, blue, or purple flowers with yellow stamens. There are about 5,000 potato varieties worldwide. Every part of the plant is dangerous for consumption except the tubers! The part we eat is specifically a stem tuber (despite being called a root vegetable.) Potatoes are the 4th largest food crop in the world.
Potatoes are native to the Americas; most specifically modern day Peru. While they were originally thought to be domesticated separately in many places by Native Americans genetic testing shows that despite the variety of cultivars and native species they can be traced back to a single Peruvian origin, Solanum Brevicaule complex. From there, roughly 7000 to 10000 years ago they were domesticated.

We call potatoes by many names: taters, pederders, spuds etc. but first let’s talk about the origin of the word potato. Potato comes from the Spanish word patata which is a hybrid word of batata (Carribean origin) and papa (Peruvian origin.) Interestingly this word actually refers to both sweet potatoes and what we call potatoes despite them not being that closely related. For quite some time no distinction was made between the two tubers. In fact, what we call potatoes today were referred to as bastard potatoes next to the common potato (sweet potato) in the 16th century by John Gerard.

This is pretty telling of the original view of potatoes in Europe. Imported from the Americas in the 1500s potatoes didn't really take off. The French in particular has a very bad view of them bringing about a law banning them for human consumption in 1748 (not really sure what took them so long if they had such a distaste for them but…) and were thought to be cause of leprosy! Potatoes however were still cultivated and used for animal fodder.

This changed for France during the 7 years war (1756 and 1763), but we’ll talk about that on Sunday!

I would be remiss if i talked about potatoes and didn't mention the Irish Potato Famine (AKA the Great Hunger AKA An Gorta Mor.) The famine began with an infestation of a fungus-like organism, Phythphthora Infestans, in 1845. This blight ruined half of the crop that yeah and only got worse ruining about three quarters of the crop over the next seven years.

This may not sound like a big deal, there was other food right? Well, for the Irish tenant farmers there wasn't really. Currently under the rule of Great Britain these tenant farmers (as oppose to farmers that owned their own land) were required to pay taxes on crops and such and were left with the “poor man’s food,” of potatoes. They were especially important because of their high nutritional content. There is a lot of politics involved in why this was so devastating for the Irish population but needless to say it’s estimated over 1 million lost their lives from starvation and another 1 million fled as immigrants to the Americas and to Great Britain.

The craziest part of the Great Hunger to me is the fact that they were still exporting so much food from Ireland instead of feeding their poor and suffering. Some sources even think that the rate export increased during the famine.

Metaphysical

Correspondences: Feminine, Earth, Moon, Axomamma (Inca goddess)
Grounding, protection, stability, money, luck, healing, sympathetic magic

How to use: you can carve a potato into a poppet for sympathetic magic, kitchen witchery (obviously) potato skins are physically healing and so I would focus on the skins for healing magic, you can carry a potato to absorb negativity around you, green witchery (seed blessing, plant nurturing)

Potatoes are considered spiritually important in some sects of Buddhism. I did find it hard to find something that would corroborate this claim though.

Mundane

These super filling super versatile food comes with some possible added health benefits.

Health: They contain something called a resistant starch. While carbs and starches get a lot of flak this one is special. Resistant starch promotes good gut health! Instead of being completely broken down in the stomach this starch makes its way to the large intestine! Here it provides a great food source for healthy gut bacteria which in turn can not only help you get more from your food it may also help alleviate inflammation in general as well as inflammation caused by inflammatory bowel syndrome and Crohn's disease. This resistant starch has also been linked to improving blood sugar levels by reducing insulin resistance. Note many of these claims require more testing, especially human testing, but it's still fun to know the work that's being done around potatoes.

Some more founded uses include use in biodegradable plastic products, adhesives (in the textile industry)and the manufacturing of papers and boards.

Potato skins and honey are a folk remedy used in India for burns and even burn centres there have experimented with using potato skins to protect burns while they heal.

In the kitchen: So. Versatile.

“Boil ‘em. Mash ‘em. Stick ‘em in a stew,'' if you will. Deep fried, pan fried, baked, roasted. Hot or cold… the list goes on. Then there's all the different ways to cut them: cubes, shredded, sliced thick or thin, square cut (french fries,) lattice cut, and a new one for me, game fries, which apparently are like lattice cut but smaller cross cuts.

My personal favourites are as boiled (I know boring right?) lattice cut and hashbrowns.

Potato starch is also a great product. It can be used to add a stickiness to gluten free all purpose flour blends and as a thickener or binder in soups and sauces (again a great gluten free option.)

Frittata - The Other Omelette

Origin

The word frittata seems to have two possible origins. The first being the Italian word friggere meaning to fry and the other being the word for a mess, “Hai fatto una frittata,” which loosely translates to, “You've made quite a mess.”

The second origin makes sense being that in Italy frittata isn't a traditional or formal meal but rather something that is thrown together with scraps you've got lying around. You'd use the bits of veggies and meats that are about to spoil the same way you might for a soup or stock. For this reason there isn't a tried and true recipe nor is it likely you'll find it on a menu.

Outside of Italy it is common to see the term omelette and frittata used interchangeably but there are some things that make them different. In a frittata: the extra ingredients are added to the raw eggs and are incorporated rather than encompassed; generally more air is incorporated during the whisking process; they are cooked over a lower heat for longer and finished in an oven or salamander, basically something that heat from both sides; a frittata is not folded, which is why it is sometimes called an open-faced omelette.

There are other similar recipes such as the Spanish tortilla, the Iranian kuku, and the French quiche. A common ingredient that I wasn't aware of before is potato! So if you want to stick closer to the origins of this recipe I suggest using potato as part of your vegetable mix. If you want to do this, cook your potato first!

Ingredients
all link on ingredients are to the ingredient spotlight posts of this blog

Oil or butter for the pan
6 Eggs
¼ cup Milk
~1 cup Vegetables (I used mushrooms, bell pepper, and garlic)
~1/2 tsp each salt and pepper (to taste) and other spices if you wish (I added fresh parsley ~1/8 cup)

Optional
Use as part of above ~1 cup Protein like ham or bacon, if desired
Cheese, shredded, if desired

Tools

Knife and cutting board
Bowl
Whisk or fork
Oven safe frying pan, I prefer cast iron

Directions

Preheat you oven to 375 F.

Begin by preparing your vegetables (and protein if you so choose) by dicing them into ¼ - ½ inch pieces.

Start heating your pan over medium heat so it's good to go when your egg mixture is ready.

Crack your eggs into a bowl, add the milk and beat together. You want them to be completely incorporated and frothy.

Gently stir in your spices (at the very least you should be using salt and pepper) and diced ingredients. You just want to make sure they are coated in the egg mixture.

Carefully pour the egg concoction into your pan. It should begin to cook immediately. You don't need to cook it all the way through in this step as we're going to bake it but you do want to make sure the edges cook. (you can see i was impatient in my pictures and it took a little longer for my frittata to cook in the oven because of it.) I like to swirl the pan to get the egg walls just a little higher than they pour in naturally.

Once the egg begins to set you can toss the pan into the oven and finish it in there. This will take between 15 and 20 minutes. Keep an eye on it. You're looking for it to inflate! It can get pretty big, don't fret, that just means you incorporated a good amount of air into your mixture when you whipped it!

** If you are adding cheese I suggest adding it to the top of your frittata in the last five minutes of cooking however you could incorporate it into the egg mixture.

Pull it out and let in rest for a few minutes. Cut into pieces, I like triangles like a pizza but you can do squares for smaller pieces, and serve.


Serving

I usually serve my frittata hot, as is and usually at dinner. However, it is also a fantastic breakfast food. Often I serve it alone but personal favourite sides would be a spring green salad and/or home fries. Other similar recipes, namely the Spanish tortilla, are often served at room temperature as an appetizer so I'd say there's nothing stopping you from serving your frittata that way as well.

Short and Gritty

1. Preheat oven to 350 and heat pan on medium heat
2. 1/4 inch dice veggies
3. Mix eggs, add other ingredients, gentle stir to coat
4. Pour egg mixture into the pan and cook until edges are set
5. Finish for about 15 minutes in the oven
6. Serve