flipAtelier Café au Lait
Atelier Café au Lait
Why this dish? We know that Camille neglected meals when absorbed in work. Like so many artists of her time, the large bowl of café au lait often stood in for a meal: quickly gulped down, dipping a piece of bread, before returning to the clay. It is less a recipe than a survival ritual of the workshop.
A large bowl of black coffee softened with hot milk, into which you dip a buttered crust of bread. The fuel for laborious mornings, simple and fortifying, drunk with both hands to warm your fingers.
In the morning, I have no time to sit down: the clay awaits me and it dries quickly. So I brew a very black coffee, cut it with hot milk in a big bowl, barely sweeten, and dip a piece of yesterday's bread in it. That keeps me going until evening, sometimes. They'll say I eat poorly — perhaps, but the work doesn't suffer from waiting for me to have lunch.
- •Freshly brewed coffee — a large bowl (base, bitterness)
- •Milk — equal parts (sweetness, body)
- •Sugar — one or two lumps (roundness)
- •Yesterday's bread — a crust (for dipping)
Atelier Café au Lait
A large bowl of black coffee softened with hot milk, into which you dip a buttered crust of bread. The fuel for laborious mornings, simple and fortifying, drunk with both hands to warm your fingers.
Why this dish? We know that Camille neglected meals when absorbed in work. Like so many artists of her time, the large bowl of café au lait often stood in for a meal: quickly gulped down, dipping a piece of bread, before returning to the clay. It is less a recipe than a survival ritual of the workshop.
In the morning, I have no time to sit down: the clay awaits me and it dries quickly. So I brew a very black coffee, cut it with hot milk in a big bowl, barely sweeten, and dip a piece of yesterday's bread in it. That keeps me going until evening, sometimes. They'll say I eat poorly — perhaps, but the work doesn't suffer from waiting for me to have lunch.
Ingredients (period version)
- Freshly brewed coffee — a large bowl (base, bitterness)
- Milk — equal parts (sweetness, body)
- Sugar — one or two lumps (roundness)
- Yesterday's bread — a crust (for dipping)
Ingredients
- Strong coffee (filter or long espresso) — 150 ml (base, bitterness)
- Whole milk — 150 ml (sweetness, body)
- Sugar — 1-2 lumps (roundness)
- Stale bread and butter — 1 slice (for dipping)
Method
- Brew a strong coffee (or pull a long espresso).
- Heat the milk without boiling, until steaming and slightly frothy.
- Pour equal parts coffee and hot milk into a large bowl. Sweeten to taste.
- Butter a slice of stale bread and serve alongside for dipping.
How it was made : Café au lait in a large wide bowl, into which bread or toast is dipped, has been the classic French popular breakfast since the 19th century. The bowl — not the cup — allowed you to hold the drink with both hands and warm yourself, an essential gesture in unheated homes and workshops.
The contemporary twist : A hint of roasted chicory mixed into the coffee, as in the North of her childhood, for a round bitterness and deep color.
Camille Claudel · Charactorium
