Chicory

“ The roasted root is emptied into iron vessels, and, after cooling, is crushed in vertical stone mills, or between iron cylinders.
The dried roots cut are roasted in this country like coffee. The loss during roasting is from 25 to 30 per cent. The roasters generally introduce into the roasting machine about 2 lbs. of lard for every cwt. of chicory. Some say this is to give the chicory a better face, others state that it renders the powder less hygrometric. Inferior kinds of chicory are alleged to be coloured with Venetian red. ”

“ Chicory arrogantly and unscrupulously pretends to compete with it, and the thoughtless are deceived, and go their way through life obdurate and unrepentant, deliberately blinding themselves to the truth. Others understand not the hour and the place, and order it at strange moments and for stranger functions. Americans there be who, from thick, heavy, odious cups, drink it, plentifully weakened with milk, as the one proper and fit accompaniment for dinner; a spoonful of coffee follows a spoonful of soup ”

“ There is a wanton tangling and mingling of the waste-loving flowers, such as the yellow toad-flax, the bristling viper's bugloss, the thorny ononis that spreads a hue of pink as it creeps along the ground, sky-blue chicory on wiry stems, large milk-white blooms of datura, and purple heads of centaurea calcitrapa, whose spines are avoided like those of a hedgehog by people who walk with bare feet. ”

“ Our directions are for making pure coffee; which, when not taken in excess, is, we believe, a wholesome as well as a most agreeable beverage. The effect of chicory is, we believe, to impart a slight bitter flavour to the infusion, and to deepen its colour so much as to make it appear much stronger than it really is. ”

“ The most unique resort in this Bohemia of the nether world was at Chicory Hall, where my particular gang had established itself.
It was a basement at the corner of Fourth street and Bowery. Originally a bakeshop, it had been unoccupied for some time, until a coffee merchant rented it to prepare his chicory there. One man constituted the entire working force of the plant, and it so happened that Tom Noseley, the chicory baker, was imbued with sporting proclivities.
Do not let us forget that, at the time, the prize-fighter was a man of consequence to the youths of the East Side. ”

“ A blend with chicory can be made by using two-thirds Bogota, one-third Bourbon Santos, [Pg 400] and ten percent chicory. No steward, hotel man, or restaurant man should, however, advertise "coffee" on his menu, and then serve a drink employing chicory; because, while there is no federal law against such a practise, there are state laws against it. Chicory is all right in its place; and many prefer a drink made from coffee and chicory; but such a drink can not properly be called coffee.
Hotel men should purchase their coffee in the bean, and do their own grinding. ”

“ Ground chicory root is sometimes mixed with coffee, but78 cannot be classed strictly as an adulterant, because many people, notably the French, add it openly, preferring its flavor. Among adulterants are rye meal, bran, beans and peas, cocoa shells, and even sawdust. Artificial beans have been made of bran, molasses, and water, sometimes with the addition of chicory and coloring matter. If ground coffee is put into a glass of cold water, it floats on the top and remains hard, while several of the adulterants named soften and sink to the bottom of the glass. ”

“ Besides, many of them are not used alone, but are mixed with real coffee as adulterants.
The two main coffee substitutes are chicory and cereals. Chicory, succory, Cichorium Intybus, is a perennial plant, growing to a height of about three feet, bearing blue flowers, having a long tap root, and possessing a foliage which is sometimes used as cattle food. ”

“ The wild perennial chicory, which is cultivated as a salad, as a vegetable, as fodder, and for its roots, which are used to mix with coffee, grows throughout Europe, except in Lapland, in Marocco, and Algeria,407 from Eastern Europe to Afghanistan and Beluchistan,408 in the Punjab and Kashmir,409 and from Russia to Lake Baikal in Siberia.410 The plant is certainly wild in most of these countries; but as it often grows by the side of roads and fields, it is probable that it has been transported by man from its original home. ”

“ The adulterants commonly used are: chicory, peas, [Pg 106] beans, peanuts, and pellets of roasted wheat flour, rye, corn, or barley.
Fat globules are always present in pure coffee; their presence may be shown by the fact that imitation coffee sinks in water, while pure coffee floats.
Chicory is the most frequently used adulterant; it is added for flavor and to produce a darker infusion, thus giving the impression of greater strength. It is perfectly harmless and as a drink is actually preferred by some people. ”

“ The almost universal fault of coffee, made elsewhere than on the Continent, is its want of strength and flavour. With regard to the admixture of chicory, this is largely a question of taste, and the palate must be consulted in the matter. The great majority of people, however, cannot do without it, and it is quite (when genuine) a harmless addition. Madame Lebour-Fawssett recommends the following proportions: For making CAFE NOIR, or coffee after meals, there should be six teaspoonsful of coffee, heaped up, and a very small teaspoonful of chicory, or none at all, for one pint of water. ”

“ Wash and dry two heads of chicory salad, slice fine, and fry in a casserole in three ounces of butter. Then add one and one-half ounces of flour, three pints of veal or beef broth, and one bouquet garni; and boil for an hour. Remove the bouquet, and strain the rest through a fine sieve. Put back in the vessel, season to taste with salt and Cayenne pepper, and when nearly boiling add the yolks of two eggs beaten with one cup of cream. Before serving add one lightly-poached egg to each person. ”

“ These, in addition to the flowers they had just picked, now comprised many other natives of the wood and hedgerow, such as the purple bugloss, the yellow iris, the star thistle, the common mallow; and, a convolvulus which was brilliantly pink, in contrast to his white brother before-mentioned. Besides these, Nellie had also gathered some sprays of the “toad flax” and “blue succory,” a relative of the “endive” tribe, which produces the chicory-root so much consumed in England, as in France, as a “substitute” for coffee. ”

“ ENDIVE is an herb that is used as a salad plant or is cooked and served with a hot dressing or as greens. The three common varieties of this green are escarole, chicory, and French endive, all of which have a slightly bitter taste and may be found in the market from late summer until early winter. Escarole is a broad-leaved variety that is grown more or less in a head. ”

“ Middle Latin cicoria, cichorea, which would be most closely allied phonetically to Old High German chihhurra, signifies ‘chicory (Greek κἴχώριον) . Middle English chiche, English chiches, chickpeas, plural, with the suffix r wanting as in French chiche, Italian cece. ”

“ Those who prefer chicory with their coffee have to pay a heavy duty; but the Belgian farmer is allowed and the British farmer is forbidden to take up a paying and profitable industry! The plant is allied to the dandelion. It occasionally occurs in this country as a weed, and is a rather striking plant with bright blue flowers.
Another of these useful productions which also suffers from a heavy duty is Cocoa or Chocolate. There are a great many different plants called Co Co, or by some name very similar to it. ”

“ And now, to succeed and supersede both coffee and tea, we are ourselves in the west now growing and manufacturing chicory, which in its turn is destined materially to alter the taste, and probably to change the constitution, and thus to affect the mental habits, dispositions, and tendencies of the people who consume it. ”

“ Put these in a saucepan on the hot stove with an ounce of butter and one minced onion, fry, and then moisten with half a pint of broth (No. 99) , adding a pinch of salt and half a pinch of pepper. Let cook until all the liquid is evaporated (which will take from twenty to twenty-two minutes) . Break twelve eggs into a saucepan, add the chicory and another ounce of butter, then scramble with a spatula all together for four minutes, and serve with heart-shaped bread croûtons (No. 133) around the dish. ”

“ That was what Chicory wanted.
The next moment his blade whished through the air, and the puff-adder’s head lay upon the ground.
“You cannot be too careful, boys,” said Mr Rogers, picking up the flat spade-shaped head, and opening the jaws with the point of his knife.
“Look, boys,” he continued, as he made the jaws gape, and then raised up a couple of keen transparent fangs that lay back upon the roof of the creature’s mouth. “Do you see? There are the hollow fangs through which a drop of deadly poison is injected in the blood and causes death. Don’t let’s destroy life unnecessarily ”

“ There is a public library. The municipality owns and operates the water-works system and the electric lighting plant. Chicopee was settled about 1638, was set off from Springfield as an independent township in 1848, and was chartered as a city in 1890. Chicopee Falls was the home of Edward Bellamy. The name of the city is an Indian word meaning “cedar-tree” or “birch-bark place.”
CHICORY. The chicory or succory plant, Cichorium Intybus (natural order, Compositae) , in its wild state is a native of Great Britain, occurring most frequently in dry chalky soils, and by road-sides. ”

“ I recall perfectly every flower I saw in pasture, swamp, forest, or lane when I was a child; and I know I never saw Chicory save in old gardens. It has increased and spread wonderfully along the roadside within twenty years. By tradition it was first brought to us from England by Governor Bowdoin more than a century ago, to plant as forage.
In our common Larkspur, the old-fashioned garden found its most constant and reliable blue banner, its [Pg 268] most valuable color giver. Self-sown, this Larkspur sprung up freely every year ”

“ The Prickly Comfrey has been recommended as a good forage plant. It yields an abundant crop—or rather crops, for it may be cut several times in the year. The plant is a handsome one, and it might combine the useful with the ornamental if it were cultivated on demesne or villa farms. Dr. Voelcker states its composition to be as follows:—
Chicory is used as a forage crop on the Continent, and Professor John Wilson surmises that it may yet be generally cultivated for this purpose in Great Britain. ”

“ Endive is a species of chicory salad, originally imported from France. Cut in two lengthwise and lay on platter or individual plates. Serve with a sauce of salt, pepper, and one-fourth tarragon vinegar to three-fourths olive oil. Sprinkle with chopped chervil.
Chicken hash, Victor. Take the white meat of a boiled chicken or soup hen and cut in half inch squares, and half as much fresh-boiled potatoes cut the same way. Chop six shallots very fine and simmer in four ounces of sweet butter, but do not let them become colored. Add the chicken and potatoes, and cover with clear chicken broth. ”

“ No chicken, one no longer young. [A.S. cicen; cf. Dut. kieken, Ger. küchlein.]
Chick-pea, chik′-pē, n. a dwarf species of pea cultivated for food in the south of Europe and other places. [Fr. chiche—L. cicer, and Pea.]
Chicory, Chiccory, chik′o-ri, n. a plant whose long carrot-like root is ground to adulterate coffee.—Also Suc′cory. [Fr. chicorée—L. cichorium, succory—Gr. kichōrion.]
Chide, chīd, v.t. to scold, rebuke, reprove by words: to be noisy about, as the sea.—v.i. to make a snarling, murmuring sound, as a dog or trumpet:—pr.p. chid′ing; pa.t. chid, (obs.) ”

“ Valiant efforts were also made to get Asiatic produce overland, so as to disappoint the English cruisers; and the coffee of Arabia was taxed very lightly, so as to ruin the American producer. When the fragrant berry became more and more scarce, chicory was discovered by good patriots to be a palatable substitute, and scientific men sought to induce French manufacturers to use the isatis plant instead of indigo. Prizes were offered by the State and by local Chambers of Commerce to those who should make up for the lack of tropical goods and dyes. ”

“ The foreigners use improved machinery also in preparing the berry for market, which the Brazilians, with some exceptions, do not. The coffee-berry contains two seeds, covered with a gummy, mucilaginous substance, and enclosed in a skin which is thick, sweet, and dark and red when ripe. The foreigners take off this skin by means of machinery, and the beans are washed until they are divested of the mucilage which covers them. ”

“ In May kinnikinick rugs become flower-beds. Each flower is a narrow-throated, pink-lipped, creamy-white jug, and is filled with a drop of exquisitely flavored honey. The jugs in a short time change to smooth purple berries, and in autumn they take on their winter dress of scarlet. When ripe the berries taste like mealy crab-apples. I have often seen chipmunks eating the berries, or apples, sitting up with the fruit in both their deft little hands, and eating it with such evident relish that I frequently found myself thinking of these berries as chipmunk's apples. ”