Blog and Artwork by Mel Perez
Coronavirus may get our time to be physically together with our loved ones but it will never take our creativity on how to spend time with them and ways to keep ourselves sane and busy.
Especially in these kinds of days, different trends emerged as a way of coping up in the quarantine life. People have already started a lot of trends and this motley goes to the food category. Food trends are the highlight of quarantine life aside from the dance challenges. Of course, you may know the food trends like mug cakes, cereal pancakes and the ever popular dalgona coffee.
So, why is it called Dalgona Coffee?
According to Patricia Baes of Spot.ph, dalgona came from the same name of Korea’s traditional sponge candy. They have the same color and considering they are both bitter-sweet in taste, that is why the coffee got the name dalgona. Although there were already whipped coffee before, this trendy coffee only became popular in a South Korean TV show and has spread online through different social media sites like Facebook, Instagram and the said TikTok.
Photo from Fiction Kitchen Podcast
My Take On Dalgona Coffee
I, myself as a proud coffee lover, I HAVE TO TRY THIS.
Now, I thought it would be easy peasy lemon squeezy but it took me five (5) tries to actually achieve this trend.
The first try was a complete failure because I didn’t research on how to do it, instead I just went for how I would make my normal coffee and added a small amount of water and whisk it continuously. I noticed that the coffee wasn’t getting foamy after 30 minutes of whisking. So, I gave up and just drank it without the stiff peaks.
Curious of what went wrong, I finally searched on how to do it and that's when I found out that you are not supposed to put creamer in the coffee mixture. The other tries I did also failed because: (1) I used the wrong tool to whisk because apparently a blender won’t do the job; (2) creamer as a base doesn’t work; and (3) powdered milk is not good too.
After all the failures and being stubborn, I realize how research is important. DO YOUR RESEARCH KIDS! With that, I finally succeeded in the fifth try!
Art in Coffee
If I had a hard time doing this, I wonder how an old artist will make his/her dalgona coffee.
If I were to think of an artist before in a specific art movement, I would think of an artist who would love a cup of coffee. Well I’m thinking of someone who would not live without coffee because of his profession - this person would be Walter Gropius that founded bauhaus. I just thought of him in his minimalist house where all his furniture and appliances are also minimalist in style but modern and functional. Then he makes his minimal looking dalgona coffee using all those equipment.
Bauhaus, according to Kelly Richman-Abdou of mymodernmet.com, is translated as “construction house.” Bauhaus actually started as a school and just made its way to becoming an art movement because of its approach in architecture and design. The style of bauhaus focuses on forms and abstract shapes that highlights function and modernism, wherein according to Tate.org, “it aims to bring art back into contact with everyday life.”
With those words, I instantly saw the similarities of dalgona coffee and the bauhaus style. I even made a Venn diagram for it!
First, dalgona coffee looks minimal, just like one of the characteristics of bauhaus style. Second, by structural means that the layering of the coffee mixture and milk looks geometrical just like how this art movement is presented. Last, since there are specifics on how to achieve the dalgona coffee which can also be seen in the overall feel of the bauhaus style- with regards to architecture and design.
For me, creating food like this is not only for the tummy’s pleasure but it is also art. We may not see or realize it but cooking is also a form of art - reflecting culture, traditions and trends.
The Recipe
Knowing a person like Walter Gropius, I feel like he would be strict in making his coffee. Following the exact procedures and being careful in constructing the coffee. Here’s the recipe in bauhaus style:
1. Prepare the ingredients for the coffee mixture. For this, I used four (4) tbsp of powdered coffee, sugar and warm water. The trick here is having these ingredients in a 1:1 ratio, means that all of them should be equal in measurement.
2. Combine the three (3) ingredients in your mixing bowl. Mix them all together preferably using a whisk. Electronic whisk and manual whisking will do.
3. Mix until the coffee mixture turns foamy and until stiff peaks form.
4. Pour 2⁄3 milk in your cup and add ice!
5. Add the coffee mixture on top of the milk using a spoon and spread to make a fancy dalgona tower!
6. Enjoy your coffee!
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