The invite at ‘The Square’ was to
explore the world of ‘Single Origin’
coffees with Rushina Munshaw Ghildiyal and Rhicha Sinha for an interesting
session of historical journey of coffee in India. Naturally I was curious,
because last year, during my visit to Canary Island, I had done the study of the coffee culture in Spain and I wanted to know how it differed from India.
‘The Square’ Café Coffee Day
specializes in single origin coffee
Single Origin Coffee, as
explained by Rhicha Sinha, is the one that is specific to one particular
origin. It could be entire geographical region, a small village or even one
particular hill. What makes it so special is that aroma and the taste of the
beans differ depending on the specific mix of tangible and intangibles
characteristics of that particular area in such a way that it is impossible to
replicate anywhere else in the world.
The four different beans that
were displayed at the cooking station in jute bags had very strong and sweet
aroma. But the actual taste of the coffee was from freshly roasted, ground
coffee that was in the plunger. Rhicha Sinha, who is the senior manager and
beverage consultant at Coffee Day, explained that the right method to brew the
coffee was with hot mineral water. She spoke about how much research they had
done to distinguishing the taste of different beans and the number of coffee
cups she consumes per day..
The session started with brief
talk by Rushina who expressed her love for coffee and her involvement with the
company since last two years. Rushina, being a foodie, has great ideas for
matching food with beverages.
“We all know that food and wine can be incorporated and there are lots of other food and beverage match that people have tried to do- sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t work- for eg whisky and food, I think whisky should be had on its own. What is interesting is that we can also match the coffee with food. With coffee it actually works. You can drink coffee to wash down a snack, it can be spicy n cheesy, it could be sweet and nutty, you can pair it and it compliments with the food and it’s worth exploring. The idea is to taste them and take them where you will, with your personal coffee experience and your personal coffee story.” She said.
Rhicha on the other hand took us
through the journey of coffee by making us experience the different brewed
coffee and their accompaniment with the snack. The journey started with ‘Ethopian Sidamo’ the birthplace of
coffee, which is harvested by hand to deliver a bean of exceptional quality and
this was served with delicious tacos. This was followed with coffee of Indian
origin, Mysore Nuggets extra bold,
Indian Kathlekhan superior and Rajgiri pearl with accompaniments such as
nutty pastry, pizza and cookie.
“It involves many years of blending and brewing. In fact, the launch of The Square is the revolution since five years and it was very apt for us to have café that serves single origin coffee and we truly believe that single origin coffee is not just about selling a cup of coffee to our guest but also creating awareness about what these special coffee are.” Says Rhicha
Rushina used coffee in cooking of
BBQ sauce (she did live demo at the end of the session) and it tasted
delicious. One of these days I plan to make this sauce.
Signature Recipe specially created by Rushina Munshaw
Ghildiyal for CCDSquareUP
Katlekhan Barbecue Sauce.
Ingredients:
2 tbsp oil 1 ¾ Onions chopped
6Garlic cloves chopped 4tbsp green chilies
½ cup brown sugar 2tbsp chili powder
2tbsp fresh coriander leaves 1tsp cumin ground
200gms tomatoes, chopped 100gms tomato puree
1 stock cube 1cup
strong Katlekhan coffee freshly brewed
Method
·
· Add onions, garlic and chili and sauté until onions are tender,
about 7minutes
· Add brown sugar, chili powder, honey, coriander and cumin, stir
until sugar dissolves
· Stir in tomatoes with puree, crumbled stock cube and coffee,
bring to boil
· Reduce heat and simmer uncovered until sauce thickens slightly
and is reduced.
· Stir often while on the heat for about 35minutes
· Check seasoning and add salt or pepper as needed.
I found Katlekahn Coffee candied nut mix (made by Rushina) in the foodie
bag that I brought back home, and I couldn’t stop eating.
It was a fun afternoon meeting
with other food bloggers and other persons from social print media. There were
many ideas exchanged and the conversation was mainly around ‘food’ I think I
had too many cups of coffee during the session, and then a feast over coffee
infused candied nut mix, which kept me high for a long time and kept me awake
much longer than my normal sleeping hours.
