Magical spice coffee

"Way too much coffee. But if it weren't for the coffee, I'd have no identifiable personality whatsoever. "

- David Letterman

Are you addicted to coffee too? When I moved to Seattle I was a tea person. Completely. It took Seattle just one week to turn me around into a coffee lover. 230 Starbucks plus an endless amount of small coffee shops and they are all open when you wake up, to your convenience the whole day. I can't deny the great feeling when you quickly hop over across the street with the jacket covering your pajama, get a cappuccino and 10min later you sit in your first business call, slowly waking up thanks to coffee. Silly, but this moment made it clear to me: I am an adult, I get my own money and I am independent. Since then, coffee is a part of my life. Having the best coffee shop directly below the office, just strengthened the habit.

Shortly after, I discovered the black aroma also for backing. We all know and love those sweet, bold desserts. Tiramisu, Coffee cake, Mocha ice cream... they could nurture me the whole day. But the coffee bean has so much more potential. I discovered to cook with it and I continuous develop possibilities.

Same like cocoa, coffee beans develop a wide spectrum of aromas when they get roasted. It is a mix between earthy, sweet, bitter and sour. It's a little combination of tastes like caramel, vanilla and soy. You can use it to spice as powder or in liquid form. The most valuable it gives to food is the roasting aroma which makes your dish bolder and provides more depth to the other ingredients. Because it is already roasted, you can add the taste at the end, when finishing up. Otherwise it might become to intense.

Some of my favorite moments for coffee as a spice:

• Grate Parmesan, mix the cheese with coffee powder and make chips out of it. It's a nice and tasty decoration for every meal.

• Mix the powder with black pepper and sweet red pepper ground powder. It's a delicious combination for mashed potatoes.

• Use it in a rub for grilled meat like chicken or turkey. You will see how exciting white meat can be.

• Coffee works sweet with beef and orange. One of the first things that came to my mind was an Asian wok dish. Not only use soy sauce to refine the taste at the end, but also brewed coffee.

• Brewed coffee is a hidden gem for most kind of risotto. Use it carefully and taste it often, but when you found the right amount it's thrilling. You can't taste the coffee itself, but all other aromas seem to be stronger. I especially love it in mushroom or herb/pesto risotto.

Be bold and find your own favorite dish with coffee. It is fun to experiment and delicious when you found the solution.