It's back! The spring edition of Novel Food is collecting posts for a roundup later in April. The book I'm featuring is a teen novel called Little Brother.Teenagers are automatically considered savvy with technology, which includes the subversive side of it. Marcus is no exception and enjoys the challenge of tinkering, though usually he's just finding ways to fool the school security systems.
But all this comes back to haunt him when terrorists blow up the Bay Bridge in San Francisco, where this story takes place, and Marcus happens to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. He and his friends, who were skipping school to find the next clue for a role playing game, are bagged and then interrogated by the Department of Homeland Security, who have decided that Marcus is a huge threat. They eventually release him, and Marcus decides he needs to bring the DHS down for their misguided authority. He creates a secret, untraceable Internet system and proceeds to find ways to get the truth out.
Marcus still has to have his 'normal' life as he creates the Xnet, which includes school, so much of his computer scheming is done at night. This results in the need for coffee every morning:
The Turkish coffee shop on 24th fixed me up good with a go-cup of Turkish coffee. Basically, Turkish coffee is mud, pretending to be coffee. It's thick enough to stand a spoon up in, and it has way more caffeine than the kiddee-pops like Red Bull. Take it from someone who's read the Wikipedia entry: this is how the Ottoman Empire was won: maddened horsemen fueled by lethal jet-black coffee-mud. p 90I pulled out my Best of Coffee book to find a recipe and behold! You can make your own mud at home very easily.
serves 4 to 62 c cold water
2 T sugar
3 cardamom seeds, crushed
3 T finely ground espresso beans
In a small, heavy saucepan, bring the water, sugar and cardamom to boil over low heat. Stir in the espresso and return the mixture to a boil over low heat. When the coffee foams up to the rim, remove the pan from the heat and let cool to allow the grounds to settle.
Repeat the boiling and settling one more time. Then bring to a boil over low heat for a third time. Remove the pan from the heat. When the foam has settled, carefully spoon the coffee into small espresso cups. (Avoid spooning any of the grounds into the cups.)
My notes: Oh, for a scratch-n-sniff blog! The whole house smelled lovely while this was boiling. From start to finish, this took an hour. Now, I used a pan a bit too big, so that may be a factor; the pan size may also have attributed to the coffee not foaming like the book said it would. The result was still quite tasty, though rather sweet. The cardamom got lost, so I think I'd increase a couple more seeds and cut back on the sugar.
No fancy machines needed for this espresso!
Book recommendation: Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
Recipe recommendation: Turkish Coffee
Game recommendation: Hangaroo
4 comments:
The idea of the BB being blown up by terrorists is truly terrifying, always covered with cars on both directions as it is, pretty much all day. The novel has certainly an interesting context. Marcus has a very personal perspective on the source of power of the Ottoman Empire. Using a Turkish coffee pot is helpful in keeping the grounds at the bottom. Your Best of Coffee book also sounds interesting. Thank you so much for participating in our event.
Is it the Turkish who say that good coffee should be black as night, strong as death, and sweet as love?
I think it sounds fantastic - though I definitely remember being a sleep-deprived high schooler who drank coffee more for the caffeine than the flavor. :)
It was nice to "meet you" through Novel Food. Regarding my book picks by Marsha Mehran, both took me several days to read, but I found them very absorbing. It was interesting to learn about both Irish and Iranian culture at the same time.
I had to look up what a Turkish coffee pot was and it looks really nifty!
And here's a fun page of Turkish coffee trivia (with a picture of a pot to boot).
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