3469.—COCOA, TO PREPARE.
Ingredients.—To 1½ teaspoonfuls of prepared cocoa, allow ¼ of a pint of milk, ¼ of a pint of water.
Method.—Mix the cocoa smoothly with a little cold water, boil the remainder of the water and the milk, and pour these on to the blended cocoa, stirring well meanwhile. Rock cocoa should be broken into small pieces, and simmered gently for a few minutes in the milk and water.
3470.—COCOA HUSKS
Ingredients.—1 cupful of husks, 3 cupfuls of cold water.
Method.—Simmer the husks very gently in the water for about 3 hours, then strain. When cold, skim off any fat there may be and re-heat when required.
3471.—COCOA HUSKS (Another Method.)
Ingredients.—1 cupful of cocoa husks, 4 cupfuls of water.
Method.—Soak the husks in the water for 12 hours, keeping the vessel closely covered; at the end of this time turn both husks and water into a stewpan, and cook gently for about 4 hours. When cold remove any fat there may be on the surface, and re-heat before serving.
3472.—COFFEE, TO ROAST. (A French Recipe.)
It is an acknowledged fact that French coffee is decidedly superior to that made in England, and as the roasting of the berry is of great importance to the flavour of the preparation, it will be useful and interesting to know how they manage these things in France. In Paris there are two houses justly celebrated for the flavour of their coffee— La Maison Corcellet and La Maison Royer de Chartres; and this flavour is obtained by adding, before roasting, to every 3 lb. of coffee a piece of butter the size of a nut, and a dessertspoonful of powdered sugar. It is then roasted in the usual manner, and a tin in a slack oven, or a frying pan over the fire will serve, with care. A rotating coffee roaster is of course much better. The addition of the butter and sugar develops the flavour and aroma of the berry; the butter employed must, of course, be of the very best quality, and must be used only in very small quantities.
The Coffee Plant.—This plant (Coffea arabica) grows to the height of about 12 or 15 feet, with leaves not unlike those of the common laurel, although more pointed and not so dry and thick. The blossoms are white, much like those of the jasmine, and issue from the angles of the leaf-stalks. When the flowers fade, they are succeeded by the coffee-bean, or seed, which is enclosed in a berry of a red colour, when ripe, resembling a cherry. The coffee-beans are prepared by exposing them to the sun for a few days, that the pulp may ferment and throw off a strong acidulous moisture. They are then gradually dried for about 3 weeks, and put into a mill to separate the husk from the seed.
