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Dr. Harrison, of Edinburgh, recommended the use of this root, many years ago. It possesses, he says, all the fine flavour and exhilarating properties of coffee, without any of its deleterious effects. – The plant being of a soporific nature, the coffee made from it, when taken in the evening, produces a tendency to sleep, instead of exciting wakefulness, and may be safely used as a substitute for the Arabian berry (he adds) “being equal in substance and flavour to the best Mocha coffee.” This is going too far: it is the best substitute that has been found, but certainly not equal in flavour to really fine coffee. I will now give my sister, Mrs. Moodie’s, recipe for preparing the dandelion-root, and her method of cooking it. “The roots should be carefully washed, but not so as to remove the fine, brown skin which covers them, and which contains the aromatic flavour. The roots, when dry, should be cut up into small pieces, about the size of a kidney-bean, and roasted either in a Dutchoven, before the fire, or in the stove, stirring them from time to time, to prevent burning: when they are brown through, and crisp, like freshly roasted coffee, remove them, and let them cool; grind like coffee. Put a small cup-full into the coffee-pot, and pour over it a quart of boiling water, letting it boil again for a few minutes: drunk with sugar and cream, this preparation is very little inferior to good coffee.”
Sources & Further Reading
From Catharine Parr Traill’s The Female Emigrant’s Guide originally published in 1855 by a printer in Toronto. “Mrs. Traill’s Advice” appears regularly in The Fife and Drum, sampling this attractive new edition from McGill-Queen’s University Press. An indispensable Canadian reference, it’s available in the Canteen of Fort York.
24 The Fife and Drum April 2022 The Fife and Drum 24
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