Friday’s story of the burned
bread and molasses “coffee” served to prisoners in a New York jail in the 1860’s, and the earlier story on Breakfast Powder created a little interest, so I thought I would tempt you with a few more
coffee substitutes. We have previously discovered that ersatz coffee can be
made from:
Not surprisingly, most
coffee substitutes were developed in America – and the creative juices were running
especially well during the Civil War, as the above links show. Today however,
we are going to an English source - The Cyclopædia
of Practical Receipts in all the Useful And Domestic Arts (London, 1841.)
The Practical
Chemist who authored the book gives a number of recipes for coffee substitutes –
or perhaps most of them should be considered as coffee extenders.
Acorn Coffee.
Sound acorns (ripe), peel them and roast them
with a little butter, or fat, then, when cold, grind them with one third their weight
of real coffee.
Coffee.Rice.
Good rice and roast and grind it, &c. in
the same way as coffee.
Coffee. Rye.
Rye, and roast and grind it, like genuine coffee.
*This is similar to Hunt’s breakfast powder,
Dellenius’ coffee, British coffee, &c.
Coffee. Iris or Sylvester.
The seeds of the yellow water flag, and treat
them as for genuine coffee.
*This forms a most excellent substitute for
the colonial article.
The book mentions a number
of other potential substitutes - bread raspings, sassafras, and yellow beet –
all to be dried and roasted “in the same way as coffee.”
Chicory is a well-known and
enduring substitute for coffee. Our source for the day advises how to use it to
“improve” coffee. The chicory roots (Cichorium intybus) would
of course be roasted “in the same way as coffee” before being ground with the
real beans.
Coffee. To Improve.
Coffee, 13 parts.
Chicory, 3 parts.
Grind together.
The cyclopaedia has more coffee ideas for us.
How about making your own coffee essence? Although, on second thoughts, you
probably don’t have the equipment in your kitchen.
Coffee. Essence Of.
Coffee, 1 part.
Water, 5
part.
Keep them at a heat of 209o Fahr. in a close vessel for
ten minutes, then strain and evaporate at a low temperature in a vacuum, until
reduced to one part.
Previously mentioned coffee substitutes.
My English Mother In Law told me that in London during WW11 they would make coffee from the seeds of the Copper Beech. Have you ever come across a recipe for this? I was curious as to whether they roasted the seeds first or how they would make it less bitter.
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ReplyDeleteI am very surprised by good taste of coffee from acorns. Recently did this myself how it tastes and it is quite good. I'll take inventory of her home. Interestingly there are several recipes for her http://www.open-youweb.com/how-to-make-acorn-coffee/ but do not know what is the best, maybe preferable to try to do them all. Can someone already knows best?
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