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7
COFFEE
Of course, Mama also had a cabinet
filled with her prized collection of dainty
porcelain demitasse cups and saucers, crystal
sugar bowls, creamers and a collection of
demitasse spoons she had amassed from
her travels. These were put to use when
the occasion arose to serve “high coffee” to
company (not for the immediate family).
For such an event, coffee was made in the
kitchen but served to the guests in the living
room. A tray set with the best demitasse
cups and saucers was brought to the guests,
sometimes by a daughter thrust into service.
(I had to learn how to balance these trays
before I was 10 years old.) Sometimes, a
piece of cake or a slice of sweet dough pie
was offered as well.
Mama and her circle of friends had coffee
parties (sometimes referred to as tea parties,
although I never saw any kind of tea being
served) to honor a bride-to-be, a debutante
or aCarnival queen.For these,they really put
on a show. Aunt Eva’s sterling silver coffee
service (coffeepot, creamer, sugar bowl and
tray) would be put into use. Dainty finger
sandwiches, small sugar cookies (
ti gateau
sec
) and
tassies
(miniature pecan pies) were
passed around on small trays by “tea girls,”
who usually were the “tweenage” children
of the hostesses. (I was pressed into this
service too many times to count.)
Once or twice a week, these ladies gathered
for informal,mid-afternoon coffee chitchats
in the kitchen. I often helped Mama with
this service and loved hearing the local
gossip. Conversation was usually about
recent events, family and the weather.Many
times, coffee time lingered into the cocktail
hour, when Papa arrived home and
the ladies’ husbands came to join
their spouses for highballs.
In the book
Stir the Pot
, it is
noted that “During the early
twentieth century, several cof-
fee companies offered pre-
packaged processed coffee
to the Cajun community
in south Louisiana. Baton
Rouge-based Community
Coffee, founded in 1919,
served the eastern fringes
of Cajun country until the
company expanded its dis-
tribution network across the
Atchafalaya Basin.” Other
coffee brands such as Creole
Belle and Mello Joy also offered pre-roasted
coffee grounds to customers in what is now
the Acadiana region. Mello Joy was found-
ed in 1936 by brothers Louis and Will Beg-
naud, who worked for the Grimmer Coffee
Company, makers of Creole Belle. It was
brewed for years before a hiatus in 1976,
then revived in 2000.
Of course, now there are Community
Coffee’s CC’s, New Orleans-based PJ’s,
Starbucks and independent coffeehouses
just about everywhere!
Coffee drinking has continued to be a very
social occurrence, but I cringe when I see
customers ordering all sorts of flavored
coffees in cups as big as Mama’s coffeepot
(which I still have). There are times when
I have an
envie
(a strong desire) for a cup
of coffee with friends. When that happens,
I pull out Mama’s precious demitasses and
saucers,
and
a few of her silver demitasse
spoons, as well as her crystal
creamer and sugar bowl, and
make some sugar cookies
before calling my girl pals
to join me “for coffee.”
Ragin’ Cajuns
French Roast
Ragin’ Cajuns French
Roast Coffee is a blend
of Central and South
American beans. It is
produced by Mello Joy
in partnership with the
University of Louisiana
at Lafayette.
“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.”