My beloved step-daughter Suzanne is a busy executive who likes to start the day early with coffe in a giant round coffee cup that looks a bit like something out of Alice in Wonderland, filled to the brim. If you’re American, chances are you sip your way through the morning too, from a super-sized mug.
Coffee and tea fuel the day in Europe too, but they’re taken differently in each country. The Italians knock it back in shots, standing up. The Brits sip tea off and on during the day, as a sort of comfort. The French, as readers of this blog will know (see Café Nation, Tune up Your Coffee Lingo), have strict rules for taking their café. A quick review: a café in the morning is taken, with or without milk; an expresso is allowed, black, anytime during the day and certainly at the finish of a meal (but never with milk, after 11 am); tea lovers might partake in the mid-afternoon.
After being hard-core American coffee drinkers who turned up our noses at strong expressos, we have become complete converts to the French way. And I’ve mentioned my theory before, which is totally untested except by me: I think drinking coffee the French way is a weight loss strategy. A nice little expresso with a dash of sugar at the end of the meal fills you up nicely when you’re dreaming of dessert.
A pleasant cup of tea is also filling at that weak moment around 4:00 when you’re thinking how much you’d like a big plate of chocolate cookies. I’ve taken to drinking chai green tea at this hour (and skipping the cookies. Well mostly). We’re all supposed to be drinking green tea, they say, to prevent all sorts of diseases.
In the states I drink Yogi Chai Green Tea, but I can’t find chai green tea bags in France, so I’ve experimented with making my own chait green tea. It’s easy to make, and you might find you like it better than the tea bags.
Speaking of tea, here's an aside: in Singapore recently, we ordered some tea from the menu, shown here. I was partial to that first one, with the "beauty enhancing properties". When I googled Lily Flower tea, I found out it also reduces wrinkles. Now there's a tea recipe I'd like to have!
RECIPE: Vanilla Chai Tea from a Southern Plate
This recipe mostly comes from another southern girl, Christy Jordon of the Southern Plate blog. I’ve stolen her spice mix. Christy uses instant tea and powdered cream with her spices, but I eliminated that part. I make the tea fresh with a green tea bag, but brewed with the mixed spices.
Throw all these spices in a jar and mix:
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon cardamom
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon white pepper (or black pepper, fresh ground), or to taste.
Put some of the spice mix in your cup or teapot and let it brew with your tea. Add a touch of vanilla extract, a bit of brown sugar if you like, and an optional splash of light cream. Store the rest in a jar(instead of the vanilla extract, you can cut a vanilla bean open and tuck it int your spice mix).
In the COMMENTS: Colleen, we're intriqued by your trauma with the color gray! Colleen, by the way, is a fabulous painter. See her work here, including wall murals! Shown here is my favorite piece, perfect Georgia peaches for spring. Don't miss the many other interesting thoughts on gray and black (and about the book of the title), both for travel and as big-city uniforms (New Yorkers learned it from the French, I think!). Virginia of Paris Through My Lens sent a great cookbook recommendation: Fifty Shades of Chicken: A Parody in a Cookbook
Favorite reads: A book I wish I'd written: French Kids Eat Everything: How Our Family Moved to France, Cured Picky Eating, Banned Snacking, and Discovered 10 Simple Rules for Raising Happy, Healthy Eaters
And here's a photo of me with our new friend Mel from Michigan, a loyal reader of this blog who turned up in Burgundy (but doesn't he look so FRENCH?). We had a great lunch in Macon. And never say the French aren't friendly—Mel met a couple of French guys when he took a picture of their front door, and they ended up showing him around the area, and made him a part of the family for the week!
10 thoughts on “Coffee & Tea, the Fuel of Europe”
Oh My Goodness!!! I saw your blog link on facebook and wanted to see your lovely self with the handsome French gentleman and was stunned that you have one of my paintings here. I have a peach tree in my yard that is quite prolific right now. I’m getting excited to bake a peach pie with the fruits. Thank YOU for your compliments on the paintings, I’m so utterly flattered to say the least!
Oh the trauma of gray for me, yes, it’s true. It’s a dramatic story but something I need to ponder how to present it on my blog.
Your Vanilla Chai Tea recipe sounds like a keeper and a must try. Thank You once again.
Healthy and great tea recipe – thanks!
I am laughing. I was in Paris with my sister last week. Her first time. The first day we stopped and got cafe and a pastry. The coffee cup was too small for her. Our next stop was McDonalds (ugh for me) for a large cafe. Ended up being about a medium size by American standards. Still not enough for her. About an hour later we went to a Starbucks (free wifi) and she got another large. So three tries and she finally felt like she had her caffeine fix. In our hotel, I gave her half my pot of the cafe so she could start her day off correctly. She made me laugh. We take it for granted here with our endless refills, which I love by the way. But over there a cafe creme in the AM and an espresso later in the day are fine by me.
I still remember the first café crème on our first trip in 1998 with my two sons. It was the most pleasurable coffee experience ever. And I’ll have to admit that my husband orders them morning, noon and night. So gauche, but so nice for him. On this last trip, I was intrigued by the espresso drinks I had seen served over my years of travel and was finally able (and willing) to ask what it was. The “noisette” is my new best friend. Made with a shot of espresso and a dash of steamed milk (or just foam), it has just the right amount of milk that doesn’t overwhelm the rich coffee flavor.
I’ve really never been much of a tea drinker. My first visit to England (longer ago than I care to admit) introduced me to tea with milk and sugar. I’m not partial to sweetened drinks as I like my liquids biting and strong. I see the appeal, however, and often wish I had a taste for it.
Thanks, Lynn, for the summary, though. Nice.
Chris
Love the chai recipe! Merci Lynn. We smiled at your reference to Suzanne’s Alice in Wonderland coffee cup size. We are renting a lovely gite and the pretty red and white bowls with handles for cafe au lait are perfect for us. I often order un noisette (sp?) after a meal. Hope that is acceptable? 🙂 Unfortunately for my waist size, with dessert however.
Bon weekend from a sunny, warming up at last Pezenas.
Thanks for sharing the Chai Tea mix recipe! You know, I never liked coffee until I tried an espresso in France. Now I have to have the strong stuff here in the States.
I read the book “French Children Eat Everything.” It’s very good advice and since my children have all flown the coop, I plan to share the book with some young mothers I know. Of course, MY OWN children ate everything, they were perfect children, ha, ha. I do remember my oldest asking for escargot and they all ate broccoli happily, also nasturtium flowers. I never made them a different dinner from what we ate, either. That’s ridiculous. It seems that parents EXPECT their children to be picky and timidly offer only what they think the children will accept. Thus…the children are TAUGHT to be picky. Why, oh why were the kids allowed to take the power away from the adults? I know a large part of the reason is that the parents themselves are picky, too, and not educated about food. I have to remember that today’s parents are from a different generation than my own. What happened in the last 30 years, yikes?
I see 90 percent of school lunches go into the garbage while the kids eat fruit roll ups and chips and drink juice boxes instead of milk or water. It’s because the parents generally don’t eat well themselves and don’t know how to make the effort to get their children eat well. This is one major reason for all the heart disease and diabetes in the US. But…..the “food” producers continue to make big profits. I would love to see school lunches at my school like they serve in France with a whole hour to eat and enjoy them but I know that’s not going to happen in the US.
Loved your article on coffee and tea! However, the rule “No milk in coffee after 11 a.m.” in France is often broken at Cap Ferrat. One of our favorite treats there is a “noisette” (a demitasse topped with rich cream). We enjoy them by the pool at the Hotel du Cap after brunch and also at Restaurant St. Jean. Maybe the rule is broken in St. Jean-Cap-Ferrat because of all the Americans and Brits there! As a child, in Louisiana, I was permitted a “noisette” after school as a treat, instead of sweets like candy. In New Orleans, café au lait is still proper anytime of day in the French Quarter. Vive la différence!
Your chai tea recipe sounds delicious!
Lynn,what a great picture!You are lovely(!!), and with the smiling Mr Mel (in Macon!)(SO remember their wine!)(YUM!),there could NOT be a happier way to begin the weekend!
Completely agree with you about a touch of sugar in one’s cafe to
satisfy the sweet tooth (instead of something with beaucoup more calories.)
I’m a heart patient and your Chai recipe is divine.
Mariage Frere has wonderful decaf tea; think I saw Chai in tea bags available from Twinings.
Oh,my. So many delicious temptations, so little time.
THANK YOU for this wonderful post!