Café au lait

“ The coffee in this way is gently brought to the boiling point without violent ebullition, and we get the maximum extract without any loss of aroma.
Always make your coffee strong. Café au lait is much better if made with one-fourth strong coffee and three-fourths milk than if made half-and-half with a weaker coffee; this is evident.
It is a mistake to suppose that coffee can not be made without a great deal of costly and cumbersome apparatus. ”

“ As indicated, the food is usually poor in quality, insufficient in quantity, and indigestible. Contrary to what might be supposed, even on a cattle-ranch, milk is seldom to be had, and, if the black coffee is to be drunk au lait, it is made so with condensed milk. ”

“ A good basin of bread-and-milk, or milk-porridge, should always be allowed as a substitute for tea or coffee; and the latter, when preferred, should always be accompanied with some little extra, such as a bit of cold meat, or bacon, or an egg—sometimes one, sometimes the other, so as to secure the utmost possible variety. Coffee, by-the-way, should be of good quality, strong enough to require copious dilution with milk, and not the sloppy decoction of brown paper which it too often resembles in taste, appearance, and nutritive value. ”

“ The full strength and aroma are thus obtained; no clearing is necessary, and, if care be taken to observe all the minor points in the directions, the beverage will invariably be good.
For good breakfast coffee, cream, scalded milk, and block sugar are necessary. The milk should be scalding hot, but never boiled, as boiled milk gives an unpleasant flavor. Ascertain the tastes of those at the table, as most coffee drinkers prefer to have the coffee poured on the cream and sugar. ”

“ With us the cup of coffee is valued by its clearness. We generally drink it with sugar and milk. The French with their meals use it as we do,—but after dinner, invariably without milk (café noir) . And we would suggest to the nervous and the dyspeptic, who do not want to resign the luxury of coffee, or to whom its effects as an arrester of metamorphosis are beneficial, that when drunk on a full stomach its effects upon the nerves are much less felt than when taken fasting or with the meals.
In the consumption of tea the United States rank next to Great Britain. ”

“ If a youth’s bowels be inclined to be costive, coffee is preferable to tea for breakfast, as coffee tends to keep the bowels regular. Fresh milk ought always to be added to the coffee in the proportion of half coffee and half new milk. If coffee does not agree, then black tea should be substituted, which ought to be taken with plenty of fresh milk in it. Milk may be frequently given in tea, when it otherwise would disagree.
When a youth be delicate, it is an excellent plan to give him every morning before he leaves his bed, a tumblerful of new milk. ”

“ To many people it is injurious to drink coffee; but physicians say that, taken without milk, it is harmless. Some element of the coffee combines with the milk to form a leathery coating on the stomach, which impairs digestion. A great many substances are mixed with coffee, when sold, to cheapen it,--chicory, beans, peas, rye, and wheat being the commonest. To obtain it pure, the safest way is to buy it unground, unless you purchase of a strictly honest dealer. ”

“ Is is not too much to say that a fitting supply of milk is at present too seldom secured even by families who can well afford to pay for it. The full value of milk as an article of diet is not yet sufficiently appreciated by people who ought to be aware of it. Many adults regard it mainly as food for children, and many believe that they can not digest it, and state that it "curdles on the stomach," and makes them "bilious." The ordinary milk-supply to many establishments is just sufficient to allow their tea and coffee to be colored with it. ”

“ If you live in a city, this is the real expense; but a cup of such coffee is far more nourishing than the usual weak coffee just clouded with milk. For instance: If you put a pint of water on a tablespoonful of coffee, you get two cups of coffee too weak to allow much milk. If you put one-half pint of water to a tablespoonful of coffee, you get two half cups, rich and strong, each of which will allow being filled up with boiling milk. Therefore, you get the same quantity [32] of the beverage in one way as the other; but one will be fragrant and nourishing, the other will be neither. ”

“ With all due deference to Cobbett, milk, even entirely divested of its creamy particles, is heavy; and though it may be used with advantage as a meal, when work is done in the open air, it can never suit the appetites of the great mass of the people, who are confined by sedentary employments. Milk is the food of men in a rude state, or in childhood; but tea or well-made coffee is their beverage in a state of civilisation. ”

“ French coffee is made in a German filter, the water is turned on boiling hot, and one-third more coffee is necessary than when boiled in the common way. Where cream cannot be procured for coffee, the coffee will be much richer to boil it with a less proportion of water than the above rule, and weaken it with boiling hot milk, when served out in cups. ”

“ A larger or smaller amount of coffee may be used, as different brands of coffee vary in strength and individual tastes differ, but five tablespoons of coffee, not too coarsely ground and not pulverized, to one quart of water, will be the correct proportions for good coffee. Use cream and you will have a delicious, rich, brown beverage not possible when milk is used. Better coffee may be made if whole grains of roasted coffee be bought, reheated in oven and freshly ground whenever used, rather finely ground but not pulverized. Coffee, when ground for any length of time, loses strength. ”

“ These substitutes are in no wise imitations of tea and coffee, but are consumed for their own merits. Other substitutes are of the nature of adulteration, and contain no theine nor analogous alkaloids. Much of the prepared coffee drunk in England is merely an infusion of burnt rye, beans and chicory, with coffee to flavour, and its power as a stimulant is that possessed by any hot liquid with accompanying nourishment in the shape of milk or sugar, a power that is very often forgotten or overlooked. ”

“ Milk contains the same ingredients as blood, and sugar is changed in the body into fat, which is indispensable to us, especially to the process of breathing. Having taken no food through the night, the loss our blood has suffered during sleep by perspiration, and the fat which has been lost by respiration, must be compensated for in the morning. For this, milk and sugar in coffee are excellent. It is good for children to have a taste for sweetened milk, or milk-coffee, [Pg 120] in the morning. We must not find fault with them if they like it. Nature very wisely gave them a liking for sugar ”

“ Continuance of boiling dissipates the delicate aroma.
Inasmuch as coffee contains a much smaller percentage of theine than tea, more of the former must be used to obtain a beverage equally refreshing with tea. Two ounces to a pint of boiling water are required. The infusion thus made should be mixed with an equal part of boiled milk. The coffee ought, if possible, to be freshly roasted.
The colour of coffee is no guide to its strength. Many of the black coffees, especially “French coffee,” owe their colour to the caramel (burnt sugar) contained in the chicory mixed with them. ”

“ To prepare it, put two great spoonfuls to each pint of water, mix it with the white, yolk, and shell of an egg, pour on hot, but not boiling water, and boil it not over ten minutes. Take it off, pour in half a tea-cup of cold water, and in five minutes pour it off without shaking. When eggs are scarce, clear with fish skin, as below. Boiled milk improves both tea and coffee, but must be boiled separately. Much coffee is spoiled by being burned black instead of brown, and by being burned unequally, some too much and some too little. Constant care and stirring are indispensable. ”

“ Boiled milk is the best for all kinds of coffee except café noir.
A favorite French mixture of coffees is one-third each of Java, Mocha, and Maracaibo, with at least an ounce of pure chicory to each pound of coffee. The addition of chicory to coffee gives it a rich color and pleasant flavor; it is best to make the mixture at home, buying the chicory from some reliable dealer.
Green coffee—that is, unroasted coffee in the bean—may be bought at any time when the market is favorable; it improves by being kept in a cool, dry place. ”

“ The woman who drinks coffee and tea in moderation may increase the supply of milk by drinking to excess; but the milk will not gain in quality, and her nerves will suffer from overstimulation. Milk, cocoa, and chocolate in moderation increase the quantity of milk and improve the quality, except in the rare cases where the mother cannot digest them. The woman who can sip gruel, plain or with cream, will find the supply of breast milk gaining in both quantity and quality; but when the gruel is disliked, when it actually nauseates the mother, it does not have a good effect on the milk. ”

“ Making coffee in filters or percolaters does away with the necessity of using isinglass, white of egg, and various other preparations to clear it. Coffee should always be served very hot, and, if possible, in the same vessel in which it is made, as pouring it from one pot to another cools, and consequently spoils it. Many persons may think that the proportion of water we have given for each oz. of coffee is rather small; it is so, and the coffee produced from it will be very strong; 1/3 of a cup will be found quite sufficient, which should be filled with nice hot milk, or milk and cream mixed. ”

“ The usual sophistication of milk is a liberal quantity of warm water, and to give consistence to the mixture, and correct the colour, a composition of flour and yolks of eggs is added; but should there not have been sufficient time for the operation, the immediate aid of the cock or the pump is invoked. But some of the more skilfully initiated “artistes au lait” dissolve the common cheese dye, annatto, which occasions a mixture of milk and water to assume the colour, and nearly the consistence of cream. ”

“ Rural Americans do not realise that good coffee is coffee and no more.
No one had a quart of milk to spare on the road to [Pg 262] Angola, so I hit on a plan which I recommend to others in like circumstances. I went to a farmhouse and asked for a cupful of milk to have with my coffee; I got it easily and freely. The farmer was rather touched. But as you cannot make decent coffee with one cupful of milk I went to another farm and begged another cupful, and then to another. I was able to make a good pot of coffee, despite the scarcity of milk. ”

“ The older children should have milk at breakfast and supper time. There is no food so good for children who want to be well and strong. A part of the family supply of milk is sometimes skimmed [138] to give cream for use in coffee and on desserts. The cream contains most of the fat in the milk, but the skimmed milk which is left is still a very valuable food, containing the substances which make muscle and bone, and every bit of it should be used in the cooking or for making cottage cheese. The waste of milk is the worst possible extravagance. ”

“ It is a mystery as to why people, who cannot on their own assertion take hot milk without upsetting their livers, should drink it when its taste is disguised by that of coffee. The milk is there just the same, and the after-effects are bound to be as bad as if taken by itself. ”

“ At table, first put the sugar into the cup, then fill half-full of boiling milk, add your coffee, and you have a delicious beverage that will be a revelation to many poor mortals who have an indistinct remembrance of, and an intense longing for, an ideal cup of coffee. If cream can be procured so much the better, and in that case boiling water can be added either in the pot or cup to make up for the space occupied by the milk as above; or condensed milk will be found a good substitute for cream. ”

“ DIET. 328. Which is the more wholesome, coffee or tea, where milk does not agree, for a youth's breakfast?
Coffee, provided it be made properly, and provided the boy or the girl take a great deal of out-door exercise; if a youth be much confined within doors, black tea is preferable to coffee. The usual practice of making coffee is to boil it, to get out the strength! But the fact is, the process of boiling boils the strength away; it drives off that aromatic, grateful principle, so wholesome to the stomach, and so exhilarating to the spirits ”

“ The poorer classes are greatly starved of milk in the towns. Many among them so seldom get good milk that they acquire gradually a complete distaste for what goes by the name. The same, too, is the case with tea and coffee. The miserable decoctions which, among the poor, pass for these precious beverages, are so far from what they might and should be, that these people are naturally led to the unwholesome substitutions of bad beer and worse gin. A cup of good tea or coffee, with abundant milk in it, is a very unwonted treat and novel experience to the poor. ”

“ Coffee may be compared in its effects on the system to beef-tea—it is valuable for its flavors rather than for actual nutritious principles.
It is a curious fact that coffee is most frequently made in such a way that its valuable flavors are undeveloped or destroyed. Care must be taken that the roasting be not carried so far as to char the coffee-beans, yet far enough to convert the sugar into caramel, and to change the nature of the volatile oil, so that the highest point of flavor will be reached. ”