I Cut My Roots Into Small Pieces, The Size Of A Kidney-Bean, And
Roasted Them On An Iron Baking-Pan In The Stove-Oven, Until They
Were As Brown And Crisp As Coffee.
I then ground and transferred
a small cupful of the powder to the coffee-pot, pouring upon it
scalding water, and boiling it for a few minutes briskly over the
fire.
The result was beyond my expectations. The coffee proved
excellent - far superior to the common coffee we procured at the
stores.
To persons residing in the bush, and to whom tea and coffee are
very expensive articles of luxury, the knowledge of this valuable
property of a plant scattered so abundantly through their fields,
would prove highly beneficial. For years we used no other article;
and my Indian friends who frequented the house gladly adopted the
root, and made me show them the whole process of manufacturing it
into coffee.
Experience taught me that the root of the dandelion is not so good
when applied to this purpose in the spring as it is in the fall.
I tried it in the spring, but the juice of the plant, having
contributed to the production of leaves and flowers, was weak, and
destitute of the fine bitter flavour so peculiar to coffee. The
time of gathering the potato crop is the best suited for collecting
and drying the roots of the dandelion; and as they always abound in
the same hills, both may be accomplished at the same time.
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