Roquefort Cheese Salad Dressing (1911); Espresso

[Bapopik at AOL.COM]

THE FLOWER CITY COOK BOOK
by Mrs, Henry Leiter and Sarah Van Bergh
Du Bois Press, Rochester, NY
1911

Pg. 52:
   CHICKEN A LA KING...

Pg. 165:
   BUNDT...

Pg. 128:
   ROQUEFORT CHEESE SALAD DRESSING
   Press 1/4 pound cheese through a fine sieve; add gradually 1/4 teaspoonful
paprika, 3 tablespoonfuls lemon juice aand 4 tablespoonfuls oil or cream.
Mix well until smooth and well blended.

(This is a few years earlier than my previous cite...Attached is info about
Espresso, Cappuccino and NY's Cafe Reggio--ed.)


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Welcome to Badgett's Coffee eJournal
"All the Coffee That's Fit to Print"™
Issue No. 50        November 2, 2001
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


In This Issue:

1.  Welcome
2.  Some Words from Our Sponsors
3.  ESPRESSO AMERICAN STYLE

(...)

3.  ESPRESSO AMERICAN STYLE

Robert’s note: The following article first appeared in the
newsgroup, alt.coffee. It is by Donald N. Schoenholt of Gillies
Coffee Company, Brookyn, New York, and is in response to a
statement by another posting that espresso in the U.S.A. is
"clueless."  It appears here by permission of Mr. Schoenholt.


Espresso is a strong, heart-thumping jolt of coffee exploding in
your mouth. It is short, black, and powerful.  Americans for the
most part do not drink espresso but a milk based beverage in
which coffee plays an important part. The form of espresso we
consume is based on an old Italian recipe of mixing a little
coffee with a lot of milk for small children,  Then as now that
beverage is called "Latte" in Italy.

The American coffee idiom is still developing.  In some respects
American espresso blends are more diverse and of better quality
than many espresso blends manufactured in Italy.  America is a
vast country.  Milk based espresso beverages are bringing
religion to the natives, but the proselytizing process is long
and arduous.  It is ongoing now, in earnest, only about 15
years.  Give us time.

The diversity of American tastes provides room for all kind and
manner of coffee blends, roasts, beverages, venues, and price
points.  Espresso is only one of coffee's spheres of influence
in the USA.  Indeed even in espresso there are several different
original espresso cultures here, Greenwich Village/Little Italy
in New York, New Orleans, and more recently Seattle, Boston, and
San Francisco.

The direct import Italian espresso coffee blends are for the
most part new to America, and in major degree only adequate in
terms of quality.  There are some excellent Italian roasters
whose products rarely if ever see an American audience.  One of
these, Orsini, an exquisite specialty roaster is unknown here.

Americans who drink black coffee still prefer Filter or
neopolitan drip, French Press, Vacuum siphon or moka brewed
beverage.  A very few still cling to their stove top
percolators.  They may cling to their can of Folgers, or their
bag of Green Mountain or Bustello but they will not add milk
come hell or high water.

The big roasters, Procter & Gamble, Kraft, Sara Lee, Mother
Parker roast for the common taste.  There are few darker roast
blends produced, fewer still are properly ground for use in an
espresso-maker.  On balance the bigger roasters here are making
comparable quality products to those made big comparatively
like-sized roasters in European markets including Italy.  There
is only one large roaster specializing in commercial production
of dark roast coffees in the United States, Rowland Coffee
Roasters Inc, Miami Florida.  They produce Pilon, Bustello,
Medaglia D'Oro, El Pico etc.

Smaller US roasters usually reach out to the food service
industry as their market.  Here blends offered usually top out
at 100% Colombian, and drop off significantly in value as the
price/value demand curve dictates.  Black coffee is no longer an
afterthought, but it is not a specialty of the house.  Retailer
support in the espresso area is still relatively undeveloped.

US Specialty roasters have been working with many origins,
blends and roast colors for some time now.  The trade dates
itself from 1970 (but the specialty movement is actually deeper
in history than that).  because many of the specialty pioneers
in the US began life in college town environments, and ethnic
neighborhoods espresso has developed along with US specialty
coffee.

It is delightfully glib, but equally as delightfully silly to
say that American espresso as epitomized by the US specialty
trade is clueless.  The trade is organized, Specialty Coffee
Ass'n of America, Specialty Coffee Institute and The Roasters'
Guild.  It studies, and experiments, encompasses ideas from the
world over, develops programs, resource materials (written,
audio, and video) provides seminars, field trips to origins, and
a yearly conference and trade show that is the largest and best
attended in the world, and publishes for its members a
newsletter of value and substance.  Specialty coffee is nothing
if not committed to raising the standard of coffee in this land.

I am a roaster.  In my youth I was also a retailer.  The
toughest burden in the fight for a better cup is on the
shoulders of the retailers for they alone are on the firing line
facing consumers every day.  It is a hard burden to bear. It is
easier sometimes to just give-in and brew the coffee weaker, or
buy a lighter roasted or blended pound than have to fight the
good fight day in and day out.  They are doing the very best
they can.  The proof is that the quality of beverage served over
the counter in the US has markedly improved during the last 20
years.  Improvement is always desirable.  Improvement will
continue as the public becomes more savvy about what coffee
qualities to value.

The American version of cappuccino was invented in New York's
Cafe Reggio in the mid-50's.  50 years later there is still only
one Reggio.  Its original cappuccino took 25-years to become a
national craze. It took Starbucks only about a decade to go from
25 to 2000 company owned retail outlets.  As for espresso at
Starbucks whatever else may be said it is a historic truth that
without Mr. Schultz' introduction of espresso beverages at
Starbucks and his subsequent success at Il Giornali in the late
80's the espresso revolution as we have seen it (milk and all)
may have waited another generation, or might never have come at
all in North America.  After all espresso had been around, even
in the US since the early days of the last century but it had
basically stayed an ethnic novelty enjoyed by Italian Americans.
beatniks, and European visitors (when they could find it).
Starbucks has made a significant contribution to the
popularization of espresso beverages in North America.

-DNSear