An (Espresso) Tonic to Calm the Nerves

Plus: My favorite new cookbook for spring and whither withering democracy?

My guest on this week’s podcast is cookbook author and editor of TasteCooking.com, Matt Rodbard. Koreaworld, which he co-authored with Deuki Hong, is easily one of the most satisfying cookbook reads I’ve had in ages and is the source for this week’s recipe, a hip, refreshing Espresso Tonic straight from Seoul.

The recipe is theirs, but the photo is mine.

Deuki and Matt traveled across Korea, from out-of-the-way Buddhist monasteries to the “Hawaii of Korea” Jeju Island and then across the U.S. to discover what it means to cook Korean food today. The book is part travelogue, rich with funny, warm and moving portraits of buddhist monks, shopkeepers and a Korean American chef in Wisconsin who makes, among other deliciousnesses, a kimchi-pimento cheese spread. Oh yes, and there are recipes one more tempting than the next. I read the advance PDF version, and let’s put it this way: I am willing to pay to buy my own copy. Yes, people, it’s that good. The majority of the recipes are weeknight friendly and I know the braised fish and radish stew, the Korean teriyaki and the soy sauce marinated eggs with rice will become staples in my house.

Oh, and the kimchi-pimento cheese.

Today’s recipe highlights Seoul’s rise as a coffee world capital.

You can pre-order Koreaworld from any fine bookstore you choose, including Kitchen Arts and Letters, which I visited earlier this week and is pure cookbook heaven, or straight from Amazon

Espresso Tonic

83.9KB ∙ PDF file

Download

Recipe reprinted with permission from Koreaworld: A Cookbook.Copyright © 2024 by Deuki Hong and Matt Rodbard.

Download

ESPRESSO TONIC

에스프레소 토닉

• 2 ounces espresso (double shot)

• Ice cubes

• 4 ounces high-quality tonic water (such as Fever-Tree)

• ¾ ounce Orange Simple Syrup (recipe follows)

• 1 rosemary sprig, for garnish

• 1 thin orange wheel, for garnish

1.     Make the espresso however you desire. A good-quality

at-home espresso machine is the best option, though

this recipe will work fine with a Nespresso or other

push-button machine. This step needs to be done first

so the espresso can cool for at least 5 minutes. This also

degases the coffee, which helps smooth out the flavor.

2.     Fill a rocks glass with ice. Pour the tonic water over the

ice and stir in the simple syrup.

3.     Carefully pour the cooled espresso over the iced

tonic water without mixing. It’s helpful to have either

a measuring cup or a spoon to help gently float the

espresso on top. Beware: If you pour in the espresso

willy-nilly, the gases in the espresso may interact with

the carbonation of the tonic and cause the drink to fizz

and erupt like a volcano in a science experiment.

4.     Garnish with rosemary and orange wheel.

Orange Simple Syrup

오렌지 시럽

• ½ cup sugar (preferably Demerara)

• ½ cup water

• ½ cup fresh orange juice

MAKES 1 CUP

In a small saucepan, combine the sugar and water over low heat and heat, stirring

occasionally, until the sugar is fully dissolved. Remove from the heat and allow to

cool for 10 minutes, then add the orange juice and mix well. Cover and refrigerate

until cold before using. It will keep in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.

Recipe reprinted with permission from Koreaworld: A Cookbook.
Copyright © 2024 by Deuki Hong and Matt Rodbard.

And in the middle of writing this, a 4.8 magnitude earthquake rumbled my house( and much of the Northeast). My first instinct was the laundry machine had gone haywire and was about to explode. Second thought was a large truck was rumbling by. But the rumbling kept on, so I settled on earthquake. As east coasters, we don’t often get the kind of tremblers that make the plates shiver, so forgive me if I sound a bit amazed by the whole thing. Also, this was a homegrown, New Jersey-epicentered quake and I want New York City to stop pretending it was all theirs.

I will look into some nice recipes for locusts, in case that’s next in store for us.

It’s easy to dismiss Trump’s outlandish-sounding “I’ll be a dictator on day one” statements and plans to jail his opponents if he’s re-elected as mere campaign brayings to rev up his base. But the people I’ve listened to who have seen democracy disappear in their own countries, look at the U.S. now and clear-eyed tell us it could happen here—and more importantly, as many of us realize already, that there is an active movement to destroy democracy as we know it.

Last night, I watched as Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, the two Georgia poll workers defamed by Rudy Giuliani, were honored by the Renew Democracy Initiative as “Heroes of Democracy,” along with Prime Minister Kaja Kallas of Estonia and Senators John Fetterman and Adam Kinzinger.

Oh, how satisfying it felt to know Ruby and Shaye were given these awards in a building called “Gotham Hall,” in the heart of New York City. Take that, “America’s Mayor.”

Senator John Fetterman was given a “Heroes of Democracy” award last night at the Renew Democracy Initiative fundraiser. He was also gift a Carhartt sweatshirt emblazoned with: “Democracy has no dress code.”

Thanks to Rachel Vindman, I was privileged to spend the evening at the Renew Democracy Initiative fundraiser. Along with the “Heroes,” the room was filled with people committed to the cause of ensuring democracy here and abroad, including Gary Kasparov, Miles Taylor, Olivia Troye, Linda Chavez and of course, Alexander Vindman.

The RDI’s mission is “unmasking and confronting the alliance of dictators threatening freedom around the world. By doing so, we inspire those in the US and other free countries to value and protect their own democracies.”

The speeches were inspiring and sobering, and I hope to have excerpts once I’ve transcribed them. The condensed version: Democracy is a privilege we must continue to fight for.

This substack is a reader-supported publication. I cannot do it without you. If you’re able, paying for a subscription helps pay for the groceries necessary for recipe-testing and recipe development. Also, it supports me—a freelance writer—and ad-free journalism.

The pay scale for journalists and writers has not kept up with the cost of living. That’s why having a substack newsletter has become such a terrific venue for so many writers. Best of all, it puts me, Bosco, Calvin and Clyde in touch with our readers like never before. And: Clyde would like to add it keeps him in cat treats. He realllly likes his cat treats.

Can’t afford a subscription? Do the next best thing and give free subscriptions to all your friends. The more the merrier. And now, there’s a discount for subscriptions.

·