coffee & chicory

coffee & chicory
Originally uploaded by eforrest.

As I dove into my piece of peanut butter pie, something I do not often "dive" into at all, I realized that I was going to need some coffee to cut the rich, creaminess. I dutifully stepped into the kitchen, fetched a filter and pryed open my can of Cafe Du Monde coffee with Chicory. The scent, dry, woody, nutty...eeked into my sensory memory and jilted thoughts shelved long ago. While it was just a can of coffee in an ordinary Chicago kitchen, I was suddenly very far away.

In New Orleans...it was December...just a few short days before Christmas with my new Louisiana family. We jaunted through the quarter and watched voodoo mamas selling their goods, downtrodden bayou hippies stoned, relaxing in the shade of the square, tie-dyed goods hanging from blackened trellis balconies, crystal pendants tinkering in every window, magic-slash-sex shops...and there was the canal, the edge of the quarter that we walked along, leading to the French Market, full of smelly annoying people...and enchantment. There was fresh fish, and some very interesting cuisine that I believe I was going to try...was it alligator? I'm not sure I did ever try that...

There was a low-light dinner in the Courtyard with twinkly lights and Orvieto vino, my first ettoufe and my last truly romantic dinner...my first time walking in the middle of the street with a daquiri, my last time in the Quarter as such.

In this fantasy land, I was introduced to Coffee with Chicory...Cafe au Lait. And while now it's all a rather blurry and whimsical memory, everytime I open my cupboard and see my steady yellow and brown coffee can, I remember softly in my heart the ardent love and rapture that I felt in those months. So many things then made my heart expand and grow, stretch to new dimensions. And the pain that followed, the difficulty and confusion...well, perhaps they're the chicory in that otherwise smoothly roasted coffee.

A succession of coffee beverages has made my heart expand and retract...and this year's Mardi Gras allowed me to revisit the finest blend- mellow on the palate, with a brief woody bite. Steady, but smooth all the way down. A perfect blend of the southern gentility and European brusqueness...perfect with cigarettes and peanut butter, whichever suits your fancy.