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I'm sure you've heard
about internet chatwindows. And most of you probably have a notion
that AOL Instant Messenger and other similar systems are
simply the haven of young, single folk determined to flirt outrageously
and massacre the English language OMG U have 2 be kidding me LOL!
I won't deny that
this goes on (and I won't deny my own occasional silly chats either!)
but I thought you might enjoy seeing another side of the magic
of internet chats. Meet Jen, aka Jenlittlebottom, a friend of mine in
England. Last night we got to chatting, and considering that it was very
early in the morning for her, and quite late at night for me, I think
we still managed a good sense of coherency. This particular chat was
so laden with talk of coffee and coffee recipes, I thought it would
be fun to sort it out a bit and let you in on some of the recipes and
resources we talked about.
Jenlittlebottom: Anyway,
I have a book I bought in advance for my mum's birthday. It's called
'Larousse Gastronomique'. It's
the first French encylopedia of cooking that was ever translated into
English. And I'm just going to check what they suggest you do
with chocolate. *G* CocoaJava: Oh baby! *adores* You're my British Field Researcher.
Jenlittlebottom: Book:
*falls open at coffee page* Or not. *reads* Oooh, Bourbon creole coffee!
CocoaJava: O.o I'll take a double! Recipe to share?
Jenlittlebottom: *reads it* is confusing. oh, okay.
CocoaJava: Confusing recipes are fun in their own right.
Creole Coffee
Creole coffee must be strong and fragrant. 15 grams,
or one heaped tablespoonful of ground coffee should be used per cup.
Put into the filter as many spoonfuls of coffee as you want cups, press
down well and proceed in the following manner: Put your
filter into a bain-marie (which must not be boiling) just to keep the
coffee hot. Keep some boiling water in a separate
receptacle especially for this purpose. First steep the coffee thoroughly,
then, little by little, add a tablespoonful of water. Let it drip trough
until you have obtained the required amount of coffee.
Serve very hot in a coffee pot whic has previously been
scalded. The preparation of creole coffee takes over an hour.
CocoaJava: Not
a good recipe for anyone needing a caffiene fix NOW.
Jenlittlebottom: hee.Bah,
this not so good. Let me check some other books.
Jenlittlebottom: I'll retrieve my 1927 Confectioners cookbook next time
I'm in London. ;)
How about 'Coffee Milk (for the sick-room)'? This is
from 'Enquire Within About Everything'. Item 2077.
Coffee Milk (For
the Sick-Room)
Boil
a dessertspoonful of ground coffee, in nearly a pint of milk, a quarter
of an hour, then
put into it a shaving or two
of isinglass, and clear it; let it boil a few minutes, and set it by
the side of the fire to clarifty. This is a very fine breakfast, but
it should be sweetened with sugar of a good quality. (isinglass
= gelatine)
CocoaJava: (thanky. English words can baffle us Americanos.)
Jenlittlebottom: (is sort of antiquey. I looked it up. it's
particularly a type of gelatine gotten from fish or something)
CocoaJava: When I was a kid, I would BEG my dad to slop
some of his black coffee into my milk glass. As I got older,
the ratio of milk vs.
coffee slowly changed. Now I'm on straight black coffee, no milk,
no sugar. Jenlittlebottom: *eyes piles of books* now, let me see...bwhaha!
CocoaJava: *clicks*
CocoaJava: Excellent! I like that they have a scan of the book.
Jenlittlebottom: do you want 'coffee as a disinfectant'?
CocoaJava: O.o HELL YES.
1668.
Coffee as a Disinfectant
Numerous experiments with roasted
coffee prove that it is the most powerful means, not
only of rendering animal and vegetable
effluvia innocuous, but of actually destroying them. A room
in which meat in an advanced degree of decomposition had been
kept for some time,
was instantly deprived of all smell on an open coffee-roaster
being carried through it, containing a pound of coffee
newly
roasted.
In another room, exposed to the effluvium occasioned by clearing
out of the dung-pit, so that sulphurette hydrogen and
ammonia in great quantities could be chemically detected, the
stench
was completely
removed, in half a minute, on the employment of three ounces
of fresh-roasted coffee, whilst the other parts of the
house were permannetly cleared
of the same smell by being simply traversed with the coffee-roaster,
although the cleansing of the dung-pit continued for several
hours after.
CocoaJava: Actually...
that makes *sense* - I do have a tip somewhere in my site to
leave used coffee grounds out to
air dry, and then they
can be set in a closed closet or funky place to help draw the
musty smell out. Though, I have never attempted to clean a
dung pit. Ew.
Jenlittlebottom: The best mode of using the coffee as
a disinfectant is to dry the raw bean, pound it in a mortar,
and then roast the powder
on a moderately heated iron plate, until it assumes a dark
brown tint, when it is fit for use.
Then sprinkle it in sinks or cesspools, or lay it on
a plate in the room which you wish to have purified. Coffee
acid or coffee oil acts more readily in minute quantities.
Jenlittlebottom: you should play with Gutenberg.
I bet Mrs. Beeton has some info about coffee.
Jenlittlebottom: oooh! Coffee Jelly!
Jenlittlebottom: Actually, I've seen coffee flavoured
jelly at the Thai place down the road from my parents. *G*
CocoaJava: I've never had it! But I've made fun jelly.
I'd try it! I've made dandelion jelly, Queen Anne's lace jelly.
CocoaJava: What does coffee jelly GO on?
Jenlittlebottom: Not that sort of jelly, you crazed
yank. It doesn't go on anything. It probably goes nicely with
a side
of vanilla
icecream, though.
CocoaJava: Well hmm. Is that more like syrup, then?
Jenlittlebottom: No. it's a dessert. it doesn't go in
a jar. Jam goes in jars. It doesn't go on stuff.
CocoaJava: Jelly goes in jars too - at least over here.
It's exactly like jam, but with no seeds or fruit pulp. *but
rather likes
being called a crazed yank anyway*
Jenlittlebottom: That stuff is not proper jelly. It's
just jam with all the good bits taken out.
CocoaJava: I apparently am a heathen! MY
jelly is perfection. It looks like the glow of a stained glass
window.
Jenlittlebottom: but surely it goes in a mould? As
so?
Coffee
Jelly
(Sufficient to Serve Six)
* 2 c. clear, strong coffee
* 1/2 oz. or 2-1/4 Tb. unflavored gelatine
* 1/2 c. cold water
* 1 c. boiling water
* Three-quarters c. sugar
Prepare the coffee freshly and make it stronger than that which would ordinarily
be used for the table. Be sure that it contains no grounds. Soak the gelatine
in the cold water, and dissolve in the boiling water. Add the sugar and coffee.
Pour into moistened molds and allow to cool. Serve with sweetened whipped
cream.
CocoaJava: THAT
is Coffee JELL-O. By my crazed yank definition. Definitely
different. And yes, that is a Jell-O mold. My mom had a dozen
of
those hanging on her kitchen wall when I was a kid. Jenlittlebottom: JELLY.
Jenlittlebottom: ooo, wait, my Henley's Formulas for Home and Workshop
has lots of coffee recipes!
CocoaJava: *adores you*
Jenlittlebottom: I always forget this one has food.
CocoaJava: Well, some 'food' is debatable as such.
Coffee
Cocktail
1 ounce coffee syrup, One egg, 1 ounce port wine, 2 drachms
brandy. Shake, strain into a small glass, and add
soda. Mace on top.
Coffee Nogg
Coffee
syrup, 2 ounces, Brandy, 4 drachms, Cream, 2 ounces, 1 egg. (prepared
as above.)
Jenlittlebottom: I'm suspicious about the addition of soda, personally.
CocoaJava: Soda is just for bubbles and fizz. Can be plain soda, no
flavoring.
Jenlittlebottom: Yes, but to anything containing egg?
CocoaJava: Egg cream! Which is an American invention. Hmm.
Actually it contains no eggs, and no cream. Chocolate syrup, SODA for
fizz, sugar, I forget what else. It's like Boston Cream Pie.
Which is NOT from Boston, is not a pie (it's a cake) and contains pudding,
not cream.
Jenlittlebottom: Ha! sounds like the above but with chocolate
instead of coffee. They've just taken out the egg, the cream, and the
brandy.
CocoaJava: The Ultimate Substitution!!!!!!!
Jenlittlebottom: Brisket
in Coffee-Barbecue Sauce - I
did once attend a Chocolate Dinner at one of the colleges which had chocolate
in all the courses. So the main was Chicken with
Chocolate and Chilli sauce.
CocoaJava: Chili sauce BENEFITS from chocolate. I add it to my chili
and beans and nummy nummy!!!!!
Jenlittlebottom: Oh
dear lord there's more.
CocoaJava: Hmm. I might try that brisket sauce.... on SOMETHING ELSE.
Brisket is icky. |
