In my ongoing quest for moderation in all things, I’ve decided to give up caffeine for a couple of months.
I have previously foregone the pleasures of alcohol (during January and February) and meat (during February and March). Next up is the nerve-shredding, twitch-inducing, buzz-giver caffenie. In all its forms. That means no coffee. No tea. No coke. No Dr. Pepper. For 2 months. I think it’ll be my hardest challenge yet.
So yesterday was my last day of caffeine stimulation for a while. I had one last cup of good, Fair Trade coffee, one mug of Fair Trade tea, and one can of Diet Coke. I also discovered a very tasty Indian twist on fizzy pop – the masala cola!
I found it while reading “Maximum city: Bombay Lost and Found”, Suketu Mehta’s epic journalistic biography of the Indian metropolis. In a passage discussing the myriad places to eat he says:
“…you can order a masala Coke. This is the same old Coca-Cola you know, the same fizzy black liquid, but with lemon, rock salt, pepper and cumin added to it. When the Coke is poured into the glass, which has a couple of teaspoons of the masala waiting to attack the liquid from the bottom up, the American drink froths up in astonished anger. The waiter stands at your booth, waiting until the froth dies down, then puts in a little more of the Coke, then waits a moment more, then pours in the rest. And, lo! it has become a Hindu Coke. The alien invader has come into the country. It has been accepted into the pantheon of local drinks but has a little spice added to it, a little more zing. The cocaine is back in the Coke.”
So I made one. And it was good. I’ll make another one in July…