Monday through Friday I drink my morning coffee the same as you do. I gulp from my mug between blow drying my hair and putting on my mascara. I sip absentmindedly while I journal or read my morning devotion. On weekends, however, I drink my morning coffee French style!
Before my first trip to France in 2005, I read a book by Robert Arbor, a Frenchman who moved to the States and now owns 9 restaurants in New York and Boston. His book, "Joie de Vivre," takes the reader through a typical French day with a focus on food and the culture of food in France. This is where I first heard about the coffee bowl. He says...'At breakfast, everyone drinks from their own bowl, which takes the place of a cup or mug. Just as an American has a favorite breakfast cup or mug, the French person has a favorite bowl.....cafes in France serve coffee in cups and saucers--the bowl is for use at home." This explains why most people don't know about this custom; it's private and experienced only in a French home.
Here's the joy of the coffee bowl....you can't do anything else while you drink from it! Goodbye multi-tasking. You have to hold it with both hands and take your time as you walk with it to table, else coffee sloshes everywhere. It makes my weekend coffee ritual intentional and almost meditative. The bowl warms my hands and my spirit; the foamed milk atop the strong, sweetened brew tickles my nose and the sprinkle of chocolate I dash on as a finishing touch smells divine. This is truly joie de vivre!
2 comments:
My very first cappuccino was served in a bowl and I'll never forget it ... there's nothing like drinking yummy coffee in such a way. It had me hooked for life.
My grandmother had cups like that, although we're not French but from Belgium! I have them at home too, but I rather drink chocolate in them, because my grandmother always gave me chocolate and sweet bread on Sunday mornings! Oh yes, they are very " joie de vivre" to me too!
I loved to warm my hands on them, (thx for the memory), we came home from mass, all cold and very hungry, and then dipped the bread into the hot chocolate ... Mmmm!
That reminds me to defrost the raisin buns I made last week and to make a nice hot chocolate for tomorrow's brunch ... mmmmmmmm!
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