Life After Grad School

For 40 days every year I give up chocolate. In catholic tradition giving up something for lent should be done without much advertising or public suffering, so I’m already violating this rule, but - in my defense - only to illustrate this year’s dilemma: a) my birthday falls into lent, b) a birthday isn’t celebrated properly without a chocolate party and c) in German custom it brings bad luck to celebrate anything before its time (which is the reason we don’t do wedding or baby showers, but I digress). There are, of course, many solutions to this dilemma, none of which I deemed satisfactory (a birthday party 2 months after my birthday? a birthday without chocolate? giving up something else for lent or even bending the rules?). An opportunity to go away for my birthday weekend finally provided the answers. No, I’m not foregoing a party altogether. I’m just not having a birthday party. I’ll be throwing a “it’s not quite my birthday yet/mardi gras/chinese new year’s” chocolate bash. Problem solved!

A former roomate and I used to have recurring discussions about how coffee should be roasted. I know, it’s among the more stupid things to argue about, particularly since taste and preferences are entirely individual. She prefers dark roasted coffee, I prefer medium roasts, our other roommate only drank decaf - we made three different pots of coffee in the morning for 3 people. Come to think of it, I haven’t lived in a place where people shared my coffee preference since leaving my parents’ house. All of which totally proves the point about individual prefence. Anyway, the reason we argued at all is because she claimed I was drinking underroasted and thus inferior coffee. My comeback was that she was drinking overroasted burned coffee that was strong but had no flavor.

A conversation with the coffee roaster at my favorate coffee shop in CA (Dana Street Roasting Company), a visit to Murky Coffee in DC and a taste test in Cook’s Illustrated revealed that of course I wasn’t drinking underroasted coffee and that in fact, many people are drinking overroasted coffee these days - introduced by Starbucks to a country that before had miraculously managed to run on bland diner coffee thin enough to read the newspaper through. It was an improvement and tastes fine with lots of milk and sugar in some kind of mocha, latte or frappuccino form, but is not a flavorful cup of coffee on its own.

Very lightly roasted coffee tastes acidic and grassy, overroasted coffee tastes burned. Somewhere in the middle of the spectrum is my perfect roast: light enough to bring out the subtle flavors of the beans which vary by origin, dark enough to exhibit some chocolaty earthy notes. And, since a good roast doesn’t guarantee a good cup of coffee, it should be brewed strong enough to bring me to live in the morning, but not so strong that the spoon sticks up straight in the mug.

I could go on and on about coffee, but who has time for that?! The lesson is: darker roasts are not always equivalent with better quality or taste and while there is such a thing as underroasted coffee, you are far more likely to find overroasted coffee in this country. So, if you that’s your preference, you’re in luck! Regardless of the type of roast, I always look for fairly traded, organic, shade-grown coffee, which ensures that the coffee farmers are paid a fair wage and that the impact on the environment is as small as possible. Also tastes much better, if roasted properly …

To continue the theme of exercise and food, a recent study suggests that instead of downing a sports drink after workout, we’d be better off drinking our daily chocolate fix. With the right mix of carbs, protein and fat found in chocolate milk cyclists were able to perform better at their next workout.

Luckily the Taza Chocolate Lounge, which recently opened up in Cambridge, provides an inviting atmosphere and amazingly rich and satisfying chocolate drinks. The Parisian hot chocolate combines dark Colombian chocolate with a slight orange flavor while the Mexican version will tickle your tastebuds with hints of vanilla, cinnamon and chile - truly the beverage of the Gods, as the Mayans believed. Of course there are a variety of other chocolate treats to enjoy, such as chocolate fondue, ice cream and chocolate samplers. Check it out every Thursday night in Central Square, you’ll likely find me there to refuel after swim practice!

Exercise and food complement each other beautifully. Of course, you’re probably thinking, you need adequate nutrition in order to sustain exercise and conversely, exercise burns up those extra calories consumed in form of chocolate, cheese and three-course dinners at your favorite restaurant. During and after swim practice, long bike rides around Boston or day hikes in the White Mountains the conversation invariably turns to food. And particularly in those moments, when food is not readily available and we’re just a slight bit hungry, the descriptions of culinary delights can be painful - or so I’m told when we’re waiting for our brunch at Sunny’s diner after Sunday morning practice and I start in on tales of last night’s dinner or the amazing pastries I scored at the market the other day.

Well, my descriptions don’t even begin to measure up to those on my friend’s blog. Not only is she in the process of becoming the world’s most amazing pastry chef, she’s also an excellent writer and reading about her creations will make your mouth water. Don’t say I didn’t warn you! Her blog can be found here!

On a fairly warm and very sunny day I found myself walking down Newbury Street yesterday when a sign advertising baklava ice cream prompted an immediate, spontaneous and completely involuntary detour to Ben & Jerry’s. What a brilliant idea for an ice cream flavor which in fact turned out to be a delightful scrumptious treat.