The following hints on coffee-making should be hung up in every
kitchen : (1) Raw coffee (the unroasted berry) if kept in a dry place
improves with age. (2) Those who wish to enjoy coffee in perfection
should have it fresh roasted. (3) If the usual rotating cylinders are
not available, it is easy to roast coffee over a clear fire in an earthen-
ware pipkin, or a small frying-pan ; it must be kept constantly stirred
to prevent burning ; the time required is from 15 to 20 minutes. (4)
Roasted coffee should be kept in an air-tight vessel ; the Viennese
DRINKS.
117
prefer a glass bottle to a canister. Coffee is very absorbent, anil,
according to good authorities, should at no time come into contact with
metal. (5) A fhill, though convenient, is not essential. The Turks do
not grind their coffee, but pound it in a mortar with wooden pestles.
Brillat-Savarin, the great French epicure, who tried both pounded and
ground coffee, preferred the former. (6) 1 ounce of coffee to a pint of
water makes poor coffee ; H ounces to a pint makes fairly good coffee ;
2 ounces to a pint make excellent coffee. (7) It is a mistake to suppose
that costly and cumbersome machines are necessary for making coffee.
The Brazilians insist that coffee-pots should be made of porcelain or
earthenware, not metal. Excellent coffee may be made in a common
jug provided with a strainer. (8) Warm the jug, put in the coffee,
pour boiling water on it, and the thing is done. (9) Coffee must- not
be boiled ; let it gently simmer ; violent ebullition dissipates the
aroma.
Cocoa. — Cocoa has always been recommended for its light and
nourishing properties, and as preferable, in all cases of weak digestion,
to coffee and tea. But until a few years ago cocoa promised never to
become a satisfactory substitute for tea or coffee. The cocoa of com-
merce resembled thin gruel in substance, and ‘ did not go well ’ with
meals. The fact is that thick cocoas are simply ‘ preparations ’ of
cocoa. The thickening when made, arises from starchy flour and sugar
they contain. Pure cocoa, properly manufactured and properly made,
is as thin and nearly as clean on the palate as coffee. To prove this it
is only necessary to compare a cup of unadulterated cocoa, such as Van
Ilouten’s, with a cup of the so-called homoeopathic cocoas which pro-
bably contain less than half their weight of cocoa. The Dutch cocoa
just named is one of the very few cocoas worth drinking. Nominally
its price is twice as much as ‘ prepared ’ cocoas, but it goes three times
as far. It is, of course, far more nourishing and stimulating, and is
easier to make. It requires no boiling, nor need it be made with milk.
A small teaspoonful, upon which boiling water has simply to be poured,
gives a refreshing and invigorating cup of cocoa, as rich in flavour as
chocolate, but without its sweetness, and as thin in substance as coffee.
It is somewhat curious that the finest cocoa made comes from Holland,
where cocoa is comparatively little drunk, which ought to be noted,
especially by invalids and the dyspeptic. They are so often advised to
drink cocoa by their medical advisers, and it is important that they
should have the ‘genuine article.’
Page 96
Presented as published in 1890. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
The following hints on coffee-making should be hung up in every kitchen : (1) Raw coffee (the unroasted berry) if kept in a dry place improves with age. (2) Those who wish to enjoy coffee in perfection should have it fresh roasted. (3) If the usual rotating cylinders are not available, it is easy to roast coffee over a clear fire in an earthenware pipkin, or a small frying-pan ; it must be kept constantly stirred to prevent burning ; the time required is from 15 to 20 minutes. (4) Roasted coffee should be kept in an air-tight vessel ; the Viennese
prefer a glass bottle to a canister. Coffee is very absorbent, and, according to good authorities, should at no time come into contact with metal. (5) A mill, though convenient, is not essential. The Turks do not grind their coffee, but pound it in a mortar with wooden pestles. Brillat-Savarin, the great French epicure, who tried both pounded and ground coffee, preferred the former. (6) 1 ounce of coffee to a pint of water makes poor coffee ; H ounces to a pint makes fairly good coffee ; 2 ounces to a pint make excellent coffee. (7) It is a mistake to suppose that costly and cumbersome machines are necessary for making coffee. The Brazilians insist that coffee-pots should be made of porcelain or earthenware, not metal. Excellent coffee may be made in a common jug provided with a strainer. (8) Warm the jug, put in the coffee, pour boiling water on it, and the thing is done. (9) Coffee must- not be boiled ; let it gently simmer ; violent ebullition dissipates the aroma.
Cocoa. — Cocoa has always been recommended for its light and nourishing properties, and as preferable, in all cases of weak digestion, to coffee and tea. But until a few years ago cocoa promised never to become a satisfactory substitute for tea or coffee. The cocoa of commerce resembled thin gruel in substance, and ‘ did not go well ’ with meals. The fact is that thick cocoas are simply ‘ preparations ’ of cocoa. The thickening when made, arises from starchy flour and sugar they contain. Pure cocoa, properly manufactured and properly made, is as thin and nearly as clean on the palate as coffee. To prove this it is only necessary to compare a cup of unadulterated cocoa, such as Van Ilouten’s, with a cup of the so-called homoeopathic cocoas which probably contain less than half their weight of cocoa. The Dutch cocoa just named is one of the very few cocoas worth drinking. Nominally its price is twice as much as ‘ prepared ’ cocoas, but it goes three times as far. It is, of course, far more nourishing and stimulating, and is easier to make. It requires no boiling, nor need it be made with milk. A small teaspoonful, upon which boiling water has simply to be poured, gives a refreshing and invigorating cup of cocoa, as rich in flavour as chocolate, but without its sweetness, and as thin in substance as coffee. It is somewhat curious that the finest cocoa made comes from Holland, where cocoa is comparatively little drunk, which ought to be noted, especially by invalids and the dyspeptic. They are so often advised to drink cocoa by their medical advisers, and it is important that they should have the ‘genuine article.’