OT: Chicory - for humans?

[86er]

What the heck is Chicory? I know I've planted Chicory and Oats for deer. I've seen it in deer protein mixes many times. Last week in NOLA I saw it mixed in coffee! It is absolutely delicious - some of the best coffee I've ever had. What is it? How much of it is mixed with the coffee? What other human consumptions are common?
What else can you tell me about it?

[JohndeFresno]

Wikipedia probably has the best definition. I note there that it says that chicory has been used as a coffee substitute in prisons; possibly because it gets a person a lot less jacked up than caffeine.

Once while I was attached to a Vietnamese Special Forces team, the Dai-uy (Captain) made me some chicory coffee with a mid-day meal. I don't remember much about it, except that it seemed unusual, tasted kind of musky, and I liked it.

It's also a medicinal herb... but just click on the Wikipedia link and you'll see more.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicory

[RSY]

Some good info from Cafe du Monde:
http://www.cafedumonde.com/coffee.html

More from French Market Coffee:
http://www.frenchmarketcoffee.com/histo ... hicory.php

It is good, isn't it? My wife and I go on a little chicory jag every now and then. We go back and fort between it and regular coffee.

Scott

[AJMD429]

It's a pretty plant, too. Sometimes seen wild on roadsides. It is actually an 'import' but I think was used so often by pioneers heading west that it spread pretty much everywhere. We occasionally till up a little here and there by the range and scatter coneflower, butterfly weed, and chicory, or some wild peas, lespedeza, and millet, just for the birds and variety.

[Rexster]

Next time you see a Vietnamese restaurant, see if they serve Cafe Sura Da, a blend of coffee and chicory. A local place serves it with a glass of ice; you brew it at your table, pouring the hot water into the top of the whatever-it-is-called that holds the ground coffee/chicory mix. The liquid percolates through, into a glass that contain sweetened condensed milk. Once the desired level is reached, stir, then pour into the glass of ice. It packs quite a caffiene kick!

[mescalero1]

I am personal friend of Nawassa Lightfoot, medicine woman of the Choctaw Nation.
She uses it extensivly.

[Travis Morgan]

Good stuff!

[shawn_c992001]

Dandelion roots are also sometimes used to same way.

[Rusty]

It was used all over the south during Mr. Lincoln's dirty little war as a coffee substitute when they couldn't get real coffee due to the blockades. From what I know it is most famous in New Orleans. Around the country if you can find Louisanne coffee ( how ever you spell it) in the store it is a chicory blend.
A friend of mine who has now passed used to call it Lousy Ann. He said sometimes they would mix it with MaxwellHouse and then they'd have Lousy Max.
Years ago it was cheaper than 100% coffee, coffee. I tried it once and didn't care for it myself. I guess I'm odd man out here.

[Travis Morgan]

Community coffee is a good chickory.

[gamekeeper]

Give this a try if you can find it on your side of the Pond.


http://uk.wrs.yahoo.com/_ylt=A03uv8bzCD ... icory.html

[dr walker]

Joe-

Chicory is a perennial herb. The green leaves can be used in salad, although bitter they have good peppery flavor. The blue flowers can also be eaten. Most herbalists and healers use the root, chopped and boiled, made into a tea.
I have read that it purifies the liver, spleen and kidneys.
I have drank the French Market Coffee and love it. I dont know what part they use, but because of the peppery taste I would guess the dried leaves.
Chicory should grow well in Texas.

[slimster]

Normally I'm like the girl in the Maxwell House commercial and will "have what Juan V. is having". I'm not much for the fancy "mocha-frappa-cino" type drinks, just a "cuppa joe" for me, but that chicory stuff is really good for an occasional change of pace. Next time you're in NOLA, order yourself a plate of begnets (ben-yays) to go along with the chicory coffee.

[Hagler]

Gents,

I grew up on coffe & chickory. The best is from the Cafe du Monde, served au lait, with beg-nets!

This is how Luzianne Coffee used to come:



I used to have one of those cans, until Katrina got it. CDM brand is also pretty good coffee.

Shawn

[kirkwood]

Community coffee is a good chickory.

Most Community coffee is arabica bean. It is actually hard to find Community coffee blended with chicory in stores. I've only seen it available online.

[GoatGuy]

I've been drinking French Market or Luzianne for more than 35 years. Moved a bunch over those years and sometimes was able to find one but not the other. Our favorite by far is French Market and one of the first things we've done when relocating is find a chicory/coffee source, .... even before a reliable mechanic or physician. CDM brand chicory coffee is a very poor substitute, by the way.

[Rexster]

I forgot to mention earlier, that the reason Cafe Sura Da served by Vietnamese restaurants has chicory in it, is the same reason New Orleans style restaurants serve coffee with chicory, the French colonial influence.

I think Hills Brothers may also market a coffee with chicory blend.

[RSY]

If you're gonna buy a can to try, look at this list of top-notch New Orleans-area restaurants that serve French Market brand:

http://www.frenchmarketcoffee.com/where-to-drink.php

Another tip, if you're not going to make it traditional New Orleans style (half coffee/half hot milk), do not use your typical coffee-to-water ratio or else it'll be way too strong. A little experimenting will probably be required.

Bon appetit,
Scott

[JReed]

During the Civil War Confederate Soldiers used chicory because coffee was next to impossible to get due to the Union blockade.

Never had it my self.

[JerryB]

We have been drinking Luzianne and others for a good many years.

[Pisgah]

During the Civil War Confederate Soldiers used chicory because coffee was next to impossible to get due to the Union blockade.

Never had it my self.

There are many accounts of frontline Confederates trading tobacco, of which they had an abundance, for coffee from their counterparts on the Yank side. The Union army issued a mixture of coffee and sugar to the troops, but tobacco was in perennial short supply for them.

[RSY]

I am personal friend of Nawassa Lightfoot, medicine woman of the Choctaw Nation.
She uses it extensivly.

That's somewhat surprising, as it is a European plant. I didn't know they worked with non-native stuff.

Scott

[Travis Morgan]

Well, considering they were using chicory during the civil war....... not much of a surprise. BTW, indians now use electricity, cars, e-mail........ all sortsa stuff.

[Buffboy]

I am personal friend of Nawassa Lightfoot, medicine woman of the Choctaw Nation.
She uses it extensivly.

That's somewhat surprising, as it is a European plant. I didn't know they worked with non-native stuff.

Scott

The plant is native to Europe, North America, & Australia.

[awp101]

During the Civil War Confederate Soldiers used chicory because coffee was next to impossible to get due to the Union blockade.

Never had it my self.

I kept trying to remember where I'd read about chicory "coffee" before. The CW was one time period and WWI and WWII were the others. The Germans turned to it when things started to go wrong for them in both wars. It was usually referred to as "ersatz coffee" IIRC.

[Griff]

Wow, I've led a sheltered life.... 'guess when I was in NOLA I was too stoned to know if I had any, wasn't ever a Confederate soldier, and when in VN stayed real close to the ocean!

[RSY]

I am personal friend of Nawassa Lightfoot, medicine woman of the Choctaw Nation.
She uses it extensivly.

That's somewhat surprising, as it is a European plant. I didn't know they worked with non-native stuff.

Scott

The plant is native to Europe, North America, & Australia.

Although it does occur in all those places, it is most definitely NOT native to North America, only having being introduced in the last few hundred years. Hence, it is indeed interesting to find it in native American medicine, a practice very steeped in generations-old tradition going back much farther than the arrival of Europeans and their flora and fauna.

Scott

[JReed]

During the Civil War Confederate Soldiers used chicory because coffee was next to impossible to get due to the Union blockade.

Never had it my self.

There are many accounts of frontline Confederates trading tobacco, of which they had an abundance, for coffee from their counterparts on the Yank side. The Union army issued a mixture of coffee and sugar to the troops, but tobacco was in perennial short supply for them.

Oh there was a lot of trading going on amongst the pickets. But if they weren't lucky enough to get picket duty they were stuck with chicory

[Hobie]

Well, considering they were using chicory during the civil war....... not much of a surprise. BTW, indians now use electricity, cars, e-mail........ all sortsa stuff.

My sister and I were talking about how people in PA seem to think and see reported on TV that people in VA are hicks, bumpkins, etc. I had just been talking about the local colleges, theaters, etc. There are a number of people who hold to some rather ignorant opinions about any number of groups such as Native Americans, Southerners, and GUN OWNERS.

Have you guys noticed how some old timey herbal remedies are being demonized. I think the latest was Comfrey. Not quite sure where I last saw it but some fellow was railing that comfrey should be banned (not sure how they'd eradicate it) because some fool kids tried to get high with it. I guess they should ban jimson weed as well (they apparently smoke the seeds). Ok, so enough digression.

You know, when the dollar is worth nothing we might have to all use chicory again.

[Travis Morgan]

I am personal friend of Nawassa Lightfoot, medicine woman of the Choctaw Nation.
She uses it extensivly.

That's somewhat surprising, as it is a European plant. I didn't know they worked with non-native stuff.

Scott

The plant is native to Europe, North America, & Australia.

Although it does occur in all those places, it is most definitely NOT native to North America, only having being introduced in the last few hundred years. Hence, it is indeed interesting to find it in native American medicine, a practice very steeped in generations-old tradition going back much farther than the arrival of Europeans and their flora and fauna.

Scott

Well, they use tobacco too......

[Travis Morgan]

Well, considering they were using chicory during the civil war....... not much of a surprise. BTW, indians now use electricity, cars, e-mail........ all sortsa stuff.

My sister and I were talking about how people in PA seem to think and see reported on TV that people in VA are hicks, bumpkins, etc. I had just been talking about the local colleges, theaters, etc. There are a number of people who hold to some rather ignorant opinions about any number of groups such as Native Americans, Southerners, and GUN OWNERS.

Have you guys noticed how some old timey herbal remedies are being demonized. I think the latest was Comfrey. Not quite sure where I last saw it but some fellow was railing that comfrey should be banned (not sure how they'd eradicate it) because some fool kids tried to get high with it. I guess they should ban jimson weed as well (they apparently smoke the seeds). Ok, so enough digression.

You know, when the dollar is worth nothing we might have to all use chicory again.

I tried like hell to find that to use as a poultice when I broke both my wrists...... couldn't find it. Comfrey is supposed to help bones heal faster. (I was 16, it was rodeo season..! )

[RSY]

Well, they use tobacco too......

Since tobacco is an American plant, that would make perfect sense. What's your point?