flipCafé-Calva at the Counter
Café-Calva at the Counter
Why this dish? The café-grocery of Ernaux's parents opened early: workers drank their black coffee laced with calvados before the factory. Café-calva is the very smell of her childhood shop, that world of the counter she spent her life describing.
A strong black coffee laced with calvados — the 'canard' when you only dip a sugar cube in it. The early-morning workers' drink in Norman cafés. (For adults only.)
My parents' café opened before daylight. Men came in for their black coffee before the factory, and many had it laced with calvados: we called it café-calva, or canard when you just dipped a sugar cube in it. My father served, wiped the zinc, counted the change in the drawer. I watched it all from the kitchen door, not yet knowing that one day I would turn it into books.
- •Black coffee from the percolator — a small cup (base)
- •Calvados — a splash (alcohol)
- •Sugar — one cube (sweetness (canard))
Café-Calva at the Counter
A strong black coffee laced with calvados — the 'canard' when you only dip a sugar cube in it. The early-morning workers' drink in Norman cafés. (For adults only.)
Why this dish? The café-grocery of Ernaux's parents opened early: workers drank their black coffee laced with calvados before the factory. Café-calva is the very smell of her childhood shop, that world of the counter she spent her life describing.
My parents' café opened before daylight. Men came in for their black coffee before the factory, and many had it laced with calvados: we called it café-calva, or canard when you just dipped a sugar cube in it. My father served, wiped the zinc, counted the change in the drawer. I watched it all from the kitchen door, not yet knowing that one day I would turn it into books.
Ingredients (period version)
- Black coffee from the percolator — a small cup (base)
- Calvados — a splash (alcohol)
- Sugar — one cube (sweetness (canard))
Ingredients
- Strong espresso — 1 cup (base)
- Calvados — 1 to 2 cl (alcohol)
- Sugar — 1 cube (optional) (sweetness)
Method
- Prepare a strong black coffee in a small cup.
- Pour a splash of calvados directly into the hot coffee.
- For the 'canard', dip a sugar cube in the calvados and bite it between sips of coffee.
- Serve immediately, piping hot. Adults only.
How it was made : In the workers' cafés of Normandy, coffee laced with cider eau-de-vie was the morning ritual, supposed to 'stick to the ribs' before work. The landlord served standing at the counter, and the drink was paid for piecemeal.
The contemporary twist : In a non-alcoholic version for the whole family: a hot barley coffee or chicory, with a dash of reduced apple juice to recall the apple flavor.
Sources : Annie Ernaux, La Place, Gallimard, 1983
Annie Ernaux · Charactorium
