Coffee with Calvados (the *trou normand*)
A strong black coffee enhanced with a dash of Calvados — the cider brandy — to whet the appetite or revive conversation until dawn.
A strong black coffee enhanced with a dash of Calvados — the cider brandy — to whet the appetite or revive conversation until dawn.
Coffee, my dear fellow, is the friend of the night watchman and the writer. But coffee alone is as sad as widowhood; it needs its drop. So pour me a finger of Calvados, that apple fire that smells of the orchard and burns the throat — that's what we call at home the *trou normand*, and it opens your stomach in the middle of the meal as you open a window. I have used it, abused it, like so many other things that console and kill; but in honest man's doses, there is nothing better to keep the pen awake past midnight.
- •Black coffee — a strong cup (base)
- •Calvados (cider brandy) — a finger (signature alcohol)
- •Sugar — one lump (optional) (sweetness)
Coffee with Calvados (the *trou normand*)
A strong black coffee enhanced with a dash of Calvados — the cider brandy — to whet the appetite or revive conversation until dawn.
Why this dish? Maupassant, a night owl of the Parisian cafés in the Madeleine district and a fine connoisseur of tables, was also a man ravaged by excesses and stimulants — coffee, alcohol, and even ether. Coffee spiked with Calvados, the apple brandy of his native land, speaks both of his Norman roots and the use of stimulants that marked his life.
Coffee, my dear fellow, is the friend of the night watchman and the writer. But coffee alone is as sad as widowhood; it needs its drop. So pour me a finger of Calvados, that apple fire that smells of the orchard and burns the throat — that's what we call at home the *trou normand*, and it opens your stomach in the middle of the meal as you open a window. I have used it, abused it, like so many other things that console and kill; but in honest man's doses, there is nothing better to keep the pen awake past midnight.
Ingredients (period version)
- Black coffee — a strong cup (base)
- Calvados (cider brandy) — a finger (signature alcohol)
- Sugar — one lump (optional) (sweetness)
Ingredients
- Espresso or strong filter coffee — 1 cup (6 cl) (base)
- Calvados — 1 to 2 cl (signature alcohol)
- Cane sugar — 1 lump (optional) (sweetness)
Method
- Prepare a strong, hot black coffee.
- Sweeten lightly if desired.
- Add a dash of Calvados at serving time.
- For the classic *trou normand*, serve the Calvados alone, chilled, between two rich courses.
- Sip hot, in small mouthfuls. (Consume in moderation, for adults only.)
How it was made : In the 19th century, the *trou normand* — a glass of Calvados swallowed mid-meal — was believed to aid digestion and revive the appetite during long feasts. Coffee spiked with brandy was the everyday drink of cafés and writers. The apple and its brandy are authentic Norman products of the Ancien Régime, with no New World influence.
The contemporary twist : In a chilled version: a revisited *trou normand* as a Calvados granita served in a small frosty glass between courses.
Guy de Maupassant · Charactorium