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6
MY
ROUSES
EVERYDAY
MAY | JUNE 2017
E
very morning of my childhood,
I awoke to the aroma of coffee
brewing. More often than not, it
was my mother who heated up the kettle
and spooned dark roast, pure coffee into her
white enamelware French drip coffeepot.
When the kettle whistled, announcing that
the water was boiling, she patiently spooned
the hot water into the top of the pot,
waiting as the water slowly seeped through
the coffee grounds. It required the patience
of Job.The first pot was consumed in a plain
white demitasse (a small coffee cup) by
Mama and Papa in the quiet of the kitchen,
then the procedure was repeated before my
siblings and I were roused from our beds.
Our demitasse of coffee had a demitasse
coffee spoonful of raw sugar (from a nearby
sugar mill) and a drizzle of warmed, canned
Carnation® brand evaporated milk.
There were times when coffee milk (café au
lait) was consumed. Again, only pure dark
roast coffee (no chicory) was combined
with hot milk or cream to pour over a bowl
of
couche-couche
(fried cornmeal). Of course,
it was always a treat to indulge in beignets
and café au lait at Café de Monde when we
visited New Orleans, although I found the
coffee with chicory a bit bitter for my taste.
We eventually did graduate to a larger
coffeepot, which allowed Mama to brew
only
one
pot per day, but we continued to
have demitasse portions. There was nary a
coffee mug to be found in Mama’s cabinets.
The coffee was strong (almost akin to
espresso), and Mama alleged that no one
could have an entire mug of the syrupy
brew, else their hair would stand on end.
We
never
had any kind of electric coffeepot
in the house.
According to the authors (of which I am
one) of
Stir the Pot: the History of Cajun
Cuisine
, “Coffee is one of the foundations of
traditional Cajun foodways.” Anyone who
came for a visit was offered a demitasse of
coffee. In fact, I remember Mama having a
small tray on the counter that was always
set with two or three of the plain white
demitasse cups, a small sugar bowl and a
creamer ready for service at any time.
the
Coffee
issue
Cajun Coffee
by
Marcelle Bienvenu