STRANGE sights have been the order of the day recently and strange food products are appearing on the market on a regular basis as producers try and stimulate the jaded taste buds of the modern consumer.
Round about the time the naked Lewis peat cutters calendar made its dramatic appearance amid a welter of international media hype, another bizarre story about coffee, made from the droppings of an Indonesian jungle cat, also wafted onto the media sta
ge. Having seen the peat cutters calendar, in the raw as it were rather than on the internet, of the peat porn purveyors Big Jock, his sidekicks Kenny Caoran Beag and Calum Cruach Mor, a strong cup of coffee was certainly in order.
However, even my cast iron stomach would have difficulty coping with a cup of coffee made from cat's droppings. The theme of the column this week is coffee, starting with that strange brew, Civet coffee.
Civet coffee is made from the droppings of Civet cats which are found in the jungles of Sumatra in Indonesia. The coffee, also called Kopi Luwak, is incredibly expensive at around £11 per cup but apparently coffee connoisseurs cannot get enough of it.
The Civet cats come out of the jungle at night time and eat the red coffee cherries. These coffee cherries undergo a partial fermentation whilst going through the digestive system of the Sumatra civet cat. The droppings are collected, sterilised and come out the other end of the process as a strong, rich coffee.
Due to its increasing popularity and finite supplies, Civet coffee prices are going through the roof as demand outstrips supply.
However, it is not just Civet coffee that is in big demand but sales of coffee, generally, in Britain are undergoing a huge sales boom.
Britons now drink over 70 million cups of coffee per day and retail sales of coffee have risen from £632 million in 2002 to £680 million in 2005. The UK has seen an explosion of coffee chain shops opening in all parts of the country in the last few years and experts predict that overall sales of coffee and associated coffee products will soon be heading for £1 billion.
One downside of this is that the number of people suffering from 'coffee intolerance' is rising rapidly. Excessive coffee intake in some people can cause nausea, heart palpitations, and insomnia, but representatives of the coffee industry predictably dispute recent research suggesting that 'coffee intolerance' is on the up and up.
Coffee from cat's poo and naked peat cutters posing in the buff. The world is becoming weirder by the day!
Aubergine and Mozzarella stacks
Ingredients2 large aubergines
1 table olive oil
1 shallot, chopped
1 red chilli, deseeded and chopped finely
4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
14oz tin chopped tomatoes or 8 plum tomatoes, peeled and chopped
Good pinch sugar
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
Grated rind of 1 lemon
4 buffalo mozzarella balls each 100g
Salt and pepper
MethodPreheat oven to 180C/350F.
Add some olive oil to a heavy bottomed pan.
Cut the aubergines into 1cm/half inch slices discarding the ends.
Add the aubergine slices to the pan in batches. Cook for three minutes either side till slightly charred.
Set aside and cool.
To make the sauce, add some olive oil to another pan and add the chopped shallot, chilli and one garlic clove and sauté for about 5 minutes.
Add the tomatoes and pinch of sugar and seasoning and simmer for 10 minutes till reduced and thickened.
Add the basil and remove from the heat.
To make the gremolata, take the finely chopped parsley add the rosemary, lemon rind and the three remaining crushed garlic cloves and mix thoroughly.
Cut the mozzarella into 1 cm slices.
Place the four biggest mozzarella slices on an oiled baking sheet.
Add little of the gremolata to each slice.
Add a slice of mozzarella.
Continue to layer in that order till you have four stacks.
Bake in the oven for 15 minutes or until the cheese stars to melt.
Whilst the stacks are cooking, pour the tomato mixture into a blender and whiz till it is smooth.
Serve the stacks with drizzle of the tomato sauce.
A non vegetarian version of this dish can be made quite simply by adding a slice of grilled black pudding to the top of the stack.
