The most expensive coffee in the world comes out of an animal's butt

Sorry for all the posts related to coffee (been obsessed with it lately), but I just found out that the most expensive coffee in the world comes out of the digestive tract of the Asian Palm Civet (pictured left).

They eat the coffee cherries, of which the coffee beans pass through unharmed and are collected from the floor of the Sumatran jungles, and poof! you have Kopi Luwak. Kopi is Indonesian for coffee and Luwak is the local name for the civet.

Apparently (according to Wikipedia), Kopi Luwak ranges from $120 to $600 per pound. A quick search shows that a pound of Arabica roast on Animalcoffe.com is $180. Yowsers!

So why does it taste so good? The civet has evolved to pick out the ripest and best beans for consumption, and also, according to this article, the acids in the civet's stomach breaks down and leaches out some of the protein (proteins are what makes coffee bitter during the roasting process).

Mike the knife sharpener

While walking on Adelphi Street in Brooklyn this weekend, I heard a clanging. I turned around and spotted (my first time!) the green truck. It was Mike the knife sharpener! I had heard about a guy who drove around banging on bell, and people running down from their apartments with knives and scissors to be sharpened.

Apparently, according to reviews on Chowhound, a few people have had bad experiences with Mike's. I was too far away from our house to have him sharpen any of our knives. Have any of you had your knives sharpened by Mike?

Here is an article about Mike published in the New York Times two years ago.

Granola - you can make it!

Granola was always one of those things I never thought about making (I was always really impressed with restaurants who offered homemade granola - how did they do it?), but after finding this recipe by Design*Sponge's DIY Wednesday Editors, Lauren Smith and Derek Fagerstrom, I was really inspired. This granola is super tasty and easy to make - no need to buy Bear Naked ever again! The little market that just opened in our neighborhood (Green Planet - 969 Fulton St. @ Washington in Brooklyn) has an amazing bulk food section so I was able to buy the exact amount of nuts and dried fruit.

Thanks Design*Sponge (more great pics like the one above in the original post)!

Recipe below and you can also download the recipe in PDF form here.

Granola recipe:

3 cups rolled oats
1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds
1/2 cup sliced almonds
3/4 cup raw cashews
1/3 cup vegetable or canola oil
1/3 cup honey
handful of brown sugar
1 tsp of vanilla extract

Stir all ingredients together in a big bowl.

Spread out on a cookie sheet

Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes, stirring and turning every 10 minutes until toasted. (Color will be a reddish brown when done)

After baking, allow to cool in pan thoroughly. Loosen granola from pan with a spatula, breaking it into small chunks as you go.

Add:
1-2 handfuls dried cranberries
1-2 handfuls raisins

Enjoy with yogurt, milk or as is!

Florent: Go While You Still Can

I had the pleasure of going to Florent last night - my favorite place to eat in the Meatpacking District (okay, the only place that I eat at in that area). At the end of our meal - me, saffron cream mussels with fries and Tim, mac and cheese, our waiter told us that Florent was closing. I was bewildered for a second, as Florent is open 24 hours a day/7 days a week, but he meant that they were closing for good come March 31st.

What? They have such great affordable food and they've been there since 1985. Why? They couldn't renew their lease and a Starbucks was looking to move in. As if there aren't enough of those already. As if there are enough good French diners with incredible mussels, mac and cheese, burgers, steaks, etc. around.

So, go while you still can! They may be able to renew their lease until the end of June, but it's still uncertain.



Restaurant Florent
69 Gansevoort St.
New York, NY 10014
t/212-989-5779
www.restaurantflorent.com



UPDATE: 3/12/08 I went to Florent again last night and they said that they are going to be open until the end of June. Yay! Also! If you can call ahead to make a reservation, it's in your best interest. We had to wait 45 minutes for a table, and it was a Tuesday night!

I'm a sucker for foam

If you haven't noticed from my previous posts, I'm a sucker for designs in foam. Jeff made this for me. Isn't it so sweet (despite my crappy camera phone picture)?

Happy Valentine's Day to all!