You've probably noticed these blue flowers growing up along the side of the road and along the bike paths here in Chicago like I have. I remember reading somewhere that they are the flower of an edible plant called chicory. After some quick Internet research I found out the part of the plant most often used is the root. It's used as a coffee substitute and also added to coffee, especially in New Orleans. It also has medicinal value as an anti-inflammatory. But how does chicory taste? If it's good in coffee, could I use it in my brewing to make something like a chicory-chocolate stout? I had to find out.
So I enlisted my son to go on a bike-riding mission with me in search of wild chicory. It wasn't long before we found some on the North Shore Trail.
And I was pleasantly surprised at how much he seemed to enjoy helping me with the not-so-easy task of pulling it up with the roots intact.
We pulled just enough to experiment with and ended up with the roots you see in the picture below.
After cleaning the roots thoroughly (another not-so-easy task) I sliced them up into small pieces. I thought this would be similar to slicing carrots, but what I didn't know was that they have a very hard, woody center. So it ended up being more like chopping small twigs (yet another not-so-easy task). The larger ones were almost impossible to chop through with my kitchen knife and we don't have a cleaver, so I ended up slicing them length-wise and peeling the outside off of the woody center.
Once I had them in small enough pieces, I placed them on a cookie sheet and dried them in the oven. I read that they should be left on the lowest setting for about eight hours so that's what I did.
When they came out of the oven, I ground them up in my coffee grinder. I decided to try adding the resulting grey powder to my coffee first to see how it would change the taste. I used one part chicory to two parts coffee in my drip coffee maker.
The result? I would describe it as adding more bitterness to the taste of the coffee as well as some earthy or nutty undertones. It was all very subtle except for the extra bitterness which I would say was quite distinct. I think it actually changed the mouth feel of the coffee as well, making it more silky or smooth, but that may have just been my imagination. I should add that this was with no sugar and a little soy milk because that's how I always drink my coffee. Perhaps it would be better with some sugar added, but I didn't think to try that because I don't want extra sugar in my diet.
I also tried brewing some straight up, with no coffee. I can only describe this as terribly bitter. Not something I would want to use as a straight coffee substitute.
In the final analysis, I don't think the flavor that chicory would impart to a stout would be that desirable because it would mostly add bitterness, which is a flavor I would rather leave to the hops. Perhaps if I had roasted it to make it darker, the other flavors would be more pronounced. At any rate, the work required to gather and process it is probably not worth the subtle difference in flavor it might impart to a stout and, as far as coffee is concerned, it is probably an acquired taste. I don't think I will bother doing this again unless the apocalypse happens and I really need my coffee.
So, all in all, this was a culinary failure. But I did have a great time hunting for and gathering the chicory with my son. So in that sense, it was a great success. It's all about the journey anyway, right?
How about you? Have you gone out in search of different flavors to add to your home brew or just tried using an edible weed in your cooking? How did it turn out?
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