The Modern Day Julie/Julia Project- A Dalgona Coffee

A few weeks ago, I rewatched “Julie and Julia” (which I highly recommend watching)- a story about a woman (Julie Powell) who cooks her way through one of Julia Child’s cookbooks, and documents the experience over the course of one year.

I was inspired by her determination to get herself through such a transitional time in her life- she was about to turn thirty, and she was severely unhappy with her job at a call centre; working with the families of 9/11 victims.

Similarly, at such a transitional time in my life; a global pandemic as well as starting college; I thought it would be appropriate to learn how to cook, at least a few basic things.

There’s only one problem; my “culinary abilities” are limited to boiling pasta (it’s mostly undercooked; and the sauce comes out of a jar).

However, since the coronavirus pandemic has prolonged further than any of us can take; and I have almost infinite time at the moment; I’m giving myself a project. Starting now, this is going to be an ongoing series here, where I will be documenting my journey of learning how to cook.

Of course, at the moment, I won’t even consider looking at Julia Child’s cookbooks; since most of them have detailed descriptions on how to make Boeuf Bourguignon and Brioche; and my knowledge of French cuisine doesn’t stem further than eating a croissant.

Today, I’m going to be attempting (emphasis on attempt) to make one of those dalgona coffee situations that I’ve been seeing all over the internet for so many months.

Let’s take a little history lesson.

The origin of dalgona coffee is widely disputed, some say it originated in Korea, and some say that it actually originates from India, where it’s simply called an Indian cappuccino.

Knowing us Indians, our version is probably “desi-fied” beyond belief. Is that a word? I’ve decided that it is.

No matter where it comes from, or what it’s called, I’m probably just going to end up calling it the Tik-Tok coffee- since that’s where most of us probably discovered it.

Coffee runs through my blood and veins, however- the extent to which I am able to make coffee is instant black coffee from a jar. So, I’m excited to feed into my ongoing coffee-obsession.

Now, this concoction is probably loaded with enough sugar to last me forever and a day- but in the words of Julia Child:

“Fat Gives Things Flavour”

Let’s get started!

Today, I’ll be using one of my fellow blogger’s recipes- Check out the original recipe here.

P.S.- the flawed outcome of this caffeine experiment is by no means a reflection of the amount of immense talent she has- I just don’t belong in a kitchen (yet!)

Now, if I’m being completely honest, the majority of the time I spent in the kitchen was spent taking pictures. Posing the ingredients in a completely aesthetic way took way more time than I care to admit- which I’m not even sure I achieved.

Although I’ve heard that the hardest part about making this coffee is the amount of time spent mixing the ingredients together, because most videos say to continue mixing until you see a noticeable colour change; for me, it changed colour within just a few minutes.

It had a gorgeous, creamy texture- although a large amount of the coffee cream ended up on my kitchen counter and floor- I fell.

Then it was time to add the cream to the milk.

Don’t ask me why, but I was absolutely convinced that the coffee cream would sink to the bottom of the glass.

Therefore, with more precision than I’ve ever handled anything with, I spent around 15 minutes scooping it into the glass- one teaspoon at a time.

That probably explains why the surface didn’t look as smooth as it should have been. 

Now, I would like to sincerely apologise for the Non-Instagram worthy pictures that I included. What can I say? The cream started…unfrothing?

Once I had completed the recipe, I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to drink it the way it was prepared or if I was supposed to mix the cream in- but the thought of finishing the cream, and simply ending up with a plain glass of milk absolutely disgusted me.

So I decided to just mix it all together.

Now, I’d love to say that it was completely worth the hour that I spent in the kitchen, and was completely deserving of the amount of hype this trend had- but it wasn’t. 

In my opinion, it tasted almost exactly like what a normal cup of coffee tastes like. Just with a little splash of frustration and irritation.

I feel like you could get very similar results with a lot less effort. Maybe the presentation had more to do with this viral trend, more than the actual taste.

I needed yet another cup of coffee just to regain my energy.

I just ended up adding some vanilla ice cream to the mixing bowl- which I enjoyed a lot more than the coffee itself.

Next week, I’ll be trying to learn how to make a French Toast. Stay tuned for more embarrassing kitchen chronicles!

Until Next Time.