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Created by Chef Remy
Dark roasted coffee kissed with chicory root, married to hot scalded milk in equal measure, the drink that has fueled New Orleans mornings for over 160 years and tastes like the French Quarter itself.
Chicory coffee is New Orleans in a cup. The tradition came from necessity during the Civil War when coffee was scarce and folks stretched their supply with roasted chicory root. Turned out the combination was better than either ingredient alone. The chicory adds an earthy sweetness, cuts the bitterness, and produces that distinctive dark, almost chocolatey flavor that makes tourists line up at Café Du Monde at three in the morning.
My grandmother Evangeline drank café au lait every single day of her life. She heated the milk in a little copper pot that had belonged to her mother, and she poured the coffee and milk into the cup simultaneously from about a foot above the table. Said it mixed better that way and cooled it just enough to drink. I still do it the same way at Lagniappe, and my customers think it's theatre. It's not. It's just the way things are done.
The secret is scalding the milk, not steaming it. You want it hot and slightly thickened from the heat, with tiny bubbles around the edges of the pan. This gives body to the drink that steamed milk cannot match. And you pour equal parts: half coffee, half milk. That's the tradition. Anything less is just coffee with a splash of milk.
Quantity
3 tablespoons
coarsely ground
Quantity
1 1/2 cups
Quantity
1 1/2 cups
Quantity
to taste
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| dark roast coffee with chicorycoarsely ground | 3 tablespoons |
| cold filtered water | 1 1/2 cups |
| whole milk | 1 1/2 cups |
| sugar (optional) | to taste |
Use a proper New Orleans chicory blend. Café Du Monde sells their coffee nationwide, and it's the real thing. The blend should be dark roasted with about 30 percent chicory root mixed in. You can tell good chicory coffee by the aroma: it smells earthy and slightly sweet, almost like dark chocolate with a hint of nuts. If you cannot find a pre-blended coffee, buy roasted chicory root separately and mix three parts coffee to one part chicory.
Brew your chicory coffee using a French press or a drip pot with a paper filter. Use three tablespoons of grounds per cup and a half of water. The coffee should be strong because you are cutting it in half with milk. Weak coffee disappears into the milk and you lose that beautiful balance. The brewed coffee should look almost black, with that reddish tinge around the edges that chicory gives.
Pour the whole milk into a small saucepan over medium heat. Watch it carefully. You want to heat the milk until tiny bubbles form around the edges and steam rises from the surface, about 180 degrees if you have a thermometer. The milk should look slightly glossy and feel thick when you swirl the pan. Do not let it boil. Boiled milk gets a skin and a cooked taste that ruins everything.
Here is where tradition meets technique. Hold your coffee pot in one hand and your milk pan in the other. Pour both into your cup at the same time, lifting the pots about eight inches above the cup. The streams should meet in the air and blend as they fall. This aerates the mixture and creates a light foam on top. If you are nervous about spilling, pour the coffee first and add the milk in a steady stream while stirring. Equal parts, that's the rule.
Traditional café au lait is served unsweetened because the chicory provides a natural sweetness that balances the roast. But sugar is your choice. At Lagniappe, we put the sugar bowl on the table and let folks decide for themselves. Two teaspoons of sugar per cup is common if you like it sweet. Stir well and drink while it's hot.
1 serving (about 360g)
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