High in the Andes Mountains of Colombia on hills and near river creeks is harvested the richest coffee in the world, Colombian coffee. In the search of pairing it with some of our favorite foods, I have written this book for you, the coffee lover. Passion for Coffee is a complete group of recipes and stories of coffee, the people who bring it to us, and the land.
As I was closing the pages in my past book, Secrets of Colombian Cooking, the thought of coffee was waltzing in my mind. Why, if we had the best coffees in the world, were there no coffee recipes in our traditional cuisine? A few months later I was starting my endeavor with coffee and the baking station of my kitchen. At first I only thought of coffee and sweets. From my personal experience— born in a home with a bakery in a third of the house, with the smell of ovens full of cakes baking mingled with roasted coffee beans brewing in the back—I was ready to challenge the world with a large group of delicious recipes that included the beloved coffee we all enjoyed. I ran across a friend who tempted me into writing savory recipes too. I have been amazed at the wonderful recipes I developed. The fact that coffee, with its rough, dark, and profound nature was a great partner to the solemn savory foods of our table was an inspiration that felt overwhelmingly good. Coffee clings to the pan drippings and deepens the flavor of meat sauces, pairs wonderfully with slightly sweet Asian seasonings, and is even very welcome in reduced balsamic sauces and vinaigrettes.
Throughout this book you will find that most recipes have been created with freeze-dried coffee (I used the one from the Colombian Coffee Federation); Concentrated Coffee Syrups you can prepare with either freeze-dried or fresh ground coffee. (There are three coffee syrups: one for dessert recipes, one for savory foods, and one for drinks.) I have developed different ways to produce the best recipes with the largest variety of coffee forms possible, from me to you. |
