A large bowl of milk just simmering, scented with a spoonful of honey and, if desired, a hint of cinnamon. Comforting, simple, almost monastic — the drink of a man who wanted to reduce his body to essentials.

Why this dish? At the end of his life, retired to his New York hotel rooms, Tesla nourished himself almost exclusively on warm milk and vegetable juices. Warm milk, sweetened with honey — one of the few pleasures he allowed himself — was his evening comfort, taken alone, in the silence of his thoughts.

You see, I ask almost nothing of the table. When evening comes, when the calculations finally fall silent, I warm a little milk — never boiling, that would burn its delicacy — and I stir in a spoonful of honey, that nectar the bees work better than our machines. I drink it slowly, in small measured sips, and I feel the warmth sustaining within me that flame which must never be extinguished. Believe a man who has measured energy: this is the purest of fuels.

How it was made : In the early 20th century, milk was heated directly on the stove or in a bain-marie. Honey was a common sweetener, more accessible than refined sugar for those seeking a 'natural' taste. Tesla, wary of meat, saw milk and honey as 'clean' and invigorating foods.

The contemporary twist : Serve in a thick glass cup rimmed with metal, like a laboratory beaker, and name the drink '60 hertz' — the frequency of the alternating current he imposed on the world.

Nikola Tesla · Charactorium