Category — Food Science

The coffee bean is the seed of the coffee tree, which are a group of trees belonging to the genus Coffea.  The most commonly grown and cultivated is Coffea arabica, from which we get our beloved Arabica coffee.  The fruits of the coffee tree are commonly called coffee “cherries” or “berries” and within each fruit is two coffee beans, with the flat sides in contact with each other.  The endosperm of each seed contains 0.8-2.5 percent caffeine…and this is a very good thing indeed.

Cultivation of the coffee tree began in Ethiopa in approximately 850 AD. The word “coffee” comes from the Ethiopian region of Kaffa. When the coffee beans are harvested they are initially a dull green color.  To develop the flavor, and maximize caffeine extractions, the beans must be roasted, and this can be done to a variety of levels:

Coffee berries (left) contains the green coffee beans (right) which are then roasted to develop flavor and extract caffeine

A light roast is often called a New England Roast and these beans have a very light brown hue with no visible oily residue.  Moving up the chain is the American Roast, Espresso, and then the double roast French Roast.  At the French roast stage, the beans begin to smoke slightly and some of the sugars turn to carbon.  The result in an intensely (but delightfully) bitter coffee with slight smokiness.

The French mastered the roast for a cup of brewed coffee but the ultimate coffee award must go to Italians for sheer ingenuity.  Yes, of course, I’m speaking of espresso.  No other drink is so ubiquitous in this modern world of double foam mocha caffe latte whip caramel-chinos than espresso.  This intense drink is fantastic on it’s own and can create a myriad of other classic drinks including the latte (espresso and steamed milk), the cappuccino (espresso and foamed milk), and the cafe Americano (espresso and hot water).  To make espresso, the beans are roasted dark then ground fine. The grounds are then pressed into a puck in a special espresso maker.   Hot water is then pressed through the espresso puck, creating an intensely rich coffee drink with a thin layer of foam called the crema.

Not only is espresso great for creating coffee drinks, but it’s a major inspiration for a classic Italian dessert: Tiramisu.  Please stay tuned to Garrett’s Table this week for a unique take on one of the world’s favorite desserts!

As a side note, coffee is indeed a cash crop and has resulted in the exploitation of workers in numerous countries, especially Central and South America.  Coffee that is labeled as “fair trade” means that the operation of the coffee plantation is sustainable and humane both for workers and the environment.  Fair trade coffee is more expensive, but the small increase in price assures the support of the movement and a trend toward revolutionizing the coffee industry.

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Here’s a video of the chefs at moto restaurant electrically charging grains of kosher salt with a negative ion capacitor.  The salt jumps and bounces around in seemingly impossible ways. Crazy food of the future!  Oh by the way….this is where I work.

For more about moto restaurant, watch the video below!

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Back in April Popular Science published this article, titled “Bacon: The Other White Heat.” The accompanying video demonstrates how to melt through a steel pan using nothing but cured pork as the energy source. The creator of the “bacon lance,” Theodore Gray, actually used prosciutto, or what he calls “engineering grade bacon,” because it has more structural integrity and dries harder than conventional bacon. Watch the video and be amazed!

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Garrett’s Table is now officially introducing equipment reviews. In a series of posts I’ll highlight interesting equipment that you never knew you couldn’t live without. First up is the brix refractometer.

This relatively simple piece of equipment can very accurately measure the specific sugar content of a liquid. The idea is relatively simple. As a light beam passes through a liquid it is bent. The angle that the light beam is bent depends on a few factors, one of which is sugar content. For every 1% sugar in a solution, the light beam is bent by a specific angle. This angle is measured as 1° brix.

The contraption pictured is essentially a glorified koleidoscope. You place a very small amount of the liquid whose sugar content you want to measure onto the prism. A glass plate then presses the liquid into a very thin membrane over the prism. You then look through the lens. The liquid will bend the light. The bent light reflects onto a calibrated gauge measuring from 0° to 32° brix (demonstrated below). you now know the exact sugar content of your liquid.

I know you’re thinking “this is cool, but is it practical?” The answer is a resounding “absolutely!” Let’s say you want to make a sorbet and, of course since you’re the educated culinarian, you know that, to achieve an ideal texture, your sorbet should have a sugar content between 18 and 20%. Simply place a drop of the sorbet mix on the prism and you can measure it’s sugar content in degrees brix and adjust accordingly. Or let’s say you’re brewing beer. You can measure the sugar content of the beer before fermentation and then after fermentation. Subtract the second measurement from the first and you know how much of the sugar was converted into alcohol, therefore you know the specific alcohol content of the beer. Or, finally, let’s say you’re a sommelier and you want to step up your game and know the specific sugar content of your wines. Well, all you need is your refractometer!

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I’d like to introduce you to a fantastic website, foodpairing.be. Food Pairing is an ever-growing site featuring food pairing “trees” of popular ingredients. The goal is to find new and exciting flavor combinations and understand classic flavor combinations. The food pairing trees are a visual feast and feature a handy synopsis of the major food categories, such as dairy or sweets, that a particular ingredient pairs well with. Here’s a pairing chart for apples:

Click for larger image

Some pairings on this tree are obvious, like pecan and butter. Some are intriguing, like mustard and black tea. These flavor pairing charts are a great starting point to create exciting dishes based on unusual but validated flavor pairings. Stop by Food Pairings and spend a few minutes browsing the flavor trees.

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