A golden broth, perfectly clear, drawn from celery, carrot, leek, and turnip simmered for a long time. Light, slightly tangy with a squeeze of lemon, to be drunk from a cup — a meal reduced to its essence.

Why this dish? In his later decades, Tesla lived largely on juices and vegetable broths, convinced that this austere diet preserved his lucidity. During long nights in the laboratory at Colorado Springs or New York, a clear vegetable broth was the meal of a man who refused to 'waste' his energy on heavy digestion.

The body is a machine, and every machine loses efficiency carrying a useless load. So when work kept me until dawn, I asked only for a vegetable broth, clear as spring water, where the celery and carrot had yielded all their virtue. I drank it boiling hot, straight from the cup, and I assure you the mind emerges sharper than after the most copious feast. Sobriety, you see, is the first of energies.

How it was made : At the time, vegetable broths were both a food and a remedy: they were recommended for convalescents and those 'sparing' their stomach. Without bouillon cubes or concentrates, the flavor came solely from slow, patient cooking. Tesla, a late vegetarian and hygiene obsessive, made it a pillar of his diet.

The contemporary twist : Serve in a small steaming glass labeled 'alternating current': clear, vibrant, with nothing superfluous.

Nikola Tesla · Charactorium