The Roots of Café Chicorée | Drift Magazine
First published in Drift Magazine, Volume 12: Paris Edition (May 2022)
Image courtesy of Leroux
“The truth seems to be, that Coffee is not what people call Coffee, unless a certain quantity of Chicory be prepared along with it; and it is rather remarkable that the world has been so long in getting at this fact.” —William Law, Coffee Merchant to the Queen of the United Kingdom, 1850.
Many writers and food historians have mused over the French predilection for strong, bitter-tasting coffee. Some have blamed the country’s colonial endeavors for the nationwide dominance of the harsher-tasting Robusta bean, the caffeine content of which is almost double that of its smoother, more palatable Arabica cousin. Meanwhile, others have taken issue with the manner in which French coffee is prepared, berating the ill-fated combination of ultra-pasteurized milk and mediocre machines, often gifted to cafes by large coffee distributors in exchange for a commitment to serving their second rate and often over-roasted beans.
Yet there has also been another, oddly commendable factor at play in the French acceptance of the Robusta bean. Whilst other nations strived to protect the purity of their coffee, the French did not shy away from experimenting with methods of adulterating the beverage to suit their needs. Indeed, it could be said that it was this very resourcefulness, which led to the French discovery of chicory as a coffee additive, that allowed the Robusta bean to remain prevalent in France for over three centuries.
In the 1800s, whilst the British Parliament was attempting to impose sanctions on domestic coffee dealers bold enough to cut their blends with factitious coffee substitutes (regardless of any positive impacts on flavor), France remained open to the possibilities such blending offered. Thus, the French discovered ingenious ways in which to make poor quality coffee palatable through the addition of home-grown additives. These not only enhanced the flavor of the coffee, but also reduced the price of the final coffee product and extended its availability and reach. In wartime, these additives even served as cheap, readily-available substitutes for the real thing.
The most notable of these additives was roasted chicory root, which became a French stalwart during the Napoleonic Wars and established itself as a gastronomic staple that continues to be enjoyed in French coffee to this day— albeit on a far smaller scale.
In his book “The History of Coffee, including a Chapter on Chicory,” Scottish coffee merchant William Law praised the French use of chicory, stating, “The Chicory seems to give body to the Coffee. It gives it also depth of colour: but that is nothing. It fortifies the quality of thinness in the Coffee, imparts that softish and pleasing aroma which makes the beverage acceptable. Besides this, we are informed that Chicory improves the medical virtues of Coffee, by neutralising in some degree its constrictive effects.”
In its purest form, this coffee concoction derived from the roots of the common chicory plant became known by the French as café chicorée. Outside of its use as a coffee additive, most of us will be familiar with the leaves of the chicory plant in their crisp and slightly bitter salad form. Other varieties of chicory, such as the Belgian witloof, are force grown in dark conditions and served as a delicacy in the Flanders region and also in the United States, which imports around $5 billion worth of witloof annually. Every part of the chicory plant has a recognized culinary and medicinal use, but it is the root, which contains high quantities of inulin (a type of dietary fiber and also a prebiotic that encourages the growth of healthy gut bacteria) for which it is most desirable. Chicory is in fact the primary source of inulin in modern-day supplements.
In France, the trend for chicory coffee reached its peak during the early 19th century as a result of Napoleon’s continental blockade. After a series of military defeats by the British (particularly the Battle of Trafalgar, which decimated the French maritime fleet), Napoleon retaliated with a blockade preventing trade between continental Europe and the U.K. His intention was to damage Britain’s economy, weakening the country sufficiently enough to allow him to launch a successful attack. However, in reality it had little impact on the British who were easily able to circumnavigate the blockade. Instead, Napoleon’s actions resulted in significant shortages in France, including coffee which could no longer reach French shores due to Napoleon’s refusal to receive goods traveling through British ports. Reciprocal blockades imposed by the British also prevented France from accessing coffee supplies from its own colonies.
In order to meet the public demand for coffee (and to feed his own well documented addiction), Napoleon promoted the mass cultivation of chicory root in Northern France. Alongside chicory, the French grew beets in order to derive a form of domestic sugar to sweeten their coffee in the absence of the previously imported sugar cane.
Aside from the reduction in labor intensity brought on by technological advancements, little has changed in the processing of chicory coffee since Napoleon’s time. Once harvested, the chicory root is cut into strips—cossettes— which are dried. As with coffee, a master roaster is then enlisted to oversee the crucial process of roasting cossettes. It is down to the well-honed skills of this individual to determine through smell and color assessment when the chicory has reached optimal caramelization, ensuring maximum flavor, without burning them. Once cooled, the cossettes are crushed into a grain form, which can then be filtered like coffee or finely ground into a soluble powder.
Whilst Napoleon is to be credited for making chicory coffee a staple in French homes, it was the arrival of the World Wars that expanded chicory coffee consumption beyond France, making it commonplace throughout Western Europe. During WWI, when enemy blockades cut off their supplies, the Germans were forced to create an ersatz coffee blend of roasted acorns, beechnuts, and chicory. Similarly, in WWII, rations and shortages meant that most households in Western Europe became familiar with chicory coffee in one form or other.
For this reason, whilst most Parisian natives, who have been converted by the virtues of a freshly ground, single-origin coffee, will likely turn their nose up at a mug of café chicorée, it’s likely they will harbor fond recollections of their grandparent’s generation enjoying the beverage as part of their at-home, breakfast routine. Though the tradition of drinking café chicorée was not passed on to subsequent generations, the taste for chicory coffee did spread to other parts of the world, where the tradition has held strong.
Echoing the birth of chicory coffee in France, in America, the French-founded city of New Orleans also developed a love for chicory as a result of military blockades—this time during the American Civil War. But in New Orleans, once the practice of mixing chicory with coffee had begun, it became firmly ingrained in local culture. Even today, it remains a local speciality and few tourists will leave New Orleans without enjoying the famous combination of a chicory-laced café au lait served alongside a beignet (a French-style doughnut). In New Orleans, the speciality is not exclusive to people’s homes and can still be enjoyed in cafes, the most notable of which is the landmark Café du Monde, which has been serving chicory coffee since 1862.
Most of the chicory used in New Orleans coffee is still sourced from Northern France. Though production is significantly less than during the Napoleonic Wars, some of the key production facilities have survived. The most famous of these being Leroux (founded in 1858), a household brand in France that is so firmly established in the French psyche that it’s home city of Orchies is now synonymous with chicory production.
Leroux claims that when blended with a ratio of ¼ chicory to ¾ coffee, their chicory will reduce the caffeine content of your coffee and soften its taste, imbuing it with a deliciously light caramel flavor, perfect for enhancing the taste of a standard household coffee.
Image courtesy of Leroux
As early as 1885, even the British had to concede that this blending did in fact make for a superior coffee. Giving evidence to a Parliamentary Committee on Adulteration, a representative from the Inland Revenue admitted: “The trade contend that good coffee, mixed with one-eight part of chicory, and sold at a moderate price, makes a better beverage than ordinary coffee would do at the same price, and the great mass of the public prefer it.”
Whilst historic companies such as Leroux continue to dominate the chicory market in France, in the Netherlands a much smaller, self-proclaimed “hipster” company has also tapped into the benefits of chicory. According to David Klingen, one of the company’s founders, its organic chicory coffee product Chikko Not Coffee is primarily aimed at what the marketing world describes as “dark green customers”—namely, those who make their purchase decisions based on environmental factors.
Klingen compares chicory to tofu, in that tofu might be used by some as a meat substitute but it can never truly replicate or replace meat. In the same respect, although chicory can achieve a 60% likeness to coffee, he admits that a complete likeness is impossible.
For Klingen, this is one of three factors that limits the popularity of chicory coffee. The absence of caffeine is another. Whilst some health-conscious customers actively seek out caffeine-free options, Klingen claims the majority of coffee-lovers find the absence of caffeine a deterrent. Finally, as it is primarily consumed as an instant drink, chicory coffee cannot mimic the rituals of coffee preparation, a crucial factor preventing chicory from being a real challenger to coffee.
Perhaps Klingen is unconventionally honest about the limitations of his own chicory product because he is about to launch a new coffee substitute, which he claims will address these limitations. His new product, Northern Wonder, has already achieved an 80% likeness to coffee and he believes there is potential to achieve a 100% likeness in the future.
The driving force being the company is a commitment to reducing the rate of deforestation being caused by coffee production. A recent WWF (World Wildlife Fund) study ranked coffee as the 6th largest contributor to deforestation, a problem which is being exacerbated by increasing demand—particularly from traditionally tea-drinking nations like China and India. Climate change is also playing a role, shifting existing coffee growing areas away from their traditional highland habitats. With up to 80% of the now suitable land for coffee production being tree-covered, there is little chance of achieving the shift without further deforestation.
In response to these issues, Northern Wonder has been entirely created from non-tropical ingredients; a (currently secret) blend of roots, nuts, and seeds. Crucially, it also contains synthetic caffeine to provide that much-needed hit. With the exception of being able to grind your own beans, the granular product promises to replicate all the other rituals of coffee preparation such as filtration, or even extraction via a coffee machine.
Recognizing that our demand for coffee has outstripped our ability to sustainably source it, Seattle based start up Atomo Coffee was also founded upon sustainability-driven goals. Its molecular coffee substitute, launched last year, also contains caffeine and allows for the ritual of traditional coffee preparation. Like Northern Wonder, Atomo was very secretive about their recipe prior to the product’s launch, stating only that its coffee would be derived from naturally sustainable, upcycled plant waste. When customers finally received the first shipments of Atomo last year, the ingredients were revealed to be: water, extracts of date seed, grape skin, inulin, natural flavors, caffeine, and unsurprisingly, chicory root.
Image courtesy of Leroux
A short distance away from the home of Leroux, celebrated French chef Florent Ladeyn has also embraced chicory as part of his mission for sustainable gastronomy. The former Top Chef finalist is now a proprietor of three hugely successful restaurants, including the Auberge du Vert Mont in Boeschepe, which enjoyed Michelin star status from 2013 through to 2019. Ladeyn’s restaurants are characterized by locavore cuisine, with 99.5% of his produce sourced within a 50km radius. The only exception to this is salt, though even that does not travel far, coming from a small, one-man producer in Cap Gris-Nez. A menu without pepper, spices, olive oil, lemon, chocolate, and of course coffee, demands that Ladeyn be inventive. To replace the traditional and much anticipated after-dinner coffee, Ladeyn has crafted his own chicory blend in which the chicory is complemented by roasted sunflower seeds for a touch of fattiness and malt barley to balance the aromas. The steaming beverage is served in a filter coffee maker, recreating the ritual familiarity one associates with coffee.
Unquestionably, the increasing limitations on sustainable coffee production are reviving the demand for coffee alternatives and evidently, chicory still has a crucial role to play in this field. Few other natural products can replicate the flavors of coffee so readily. Though factitious coffee blends will likely require additional ingredients to achieve the ultimate goal of replicating true coffee likeness, it seems unlikely such a goal will ever be realized without chicory featuring as an essential component.
