May-June-2017_flipbook

the Coffee issue

Morning Call Café Du Monde is the oldest tenant of the French Market, dating back to 1862. But they were not the only coffee shop in the neighborhood. The Morning Call Coffee Stand first opened in the 1870s, behind the “red stores” buildings in the French Market. Morning Call replaced the Vegetable Market in the 1930s. In its location at Ursulines and Decatur, Morning Call offered curbside service; carhops would take your order so you didn’t have to leave the car. Morning Call was a fixture of the “back of the market” until the business moved to Metairie in 1974, just behind Lakeside Mall. The interior of the Metairie location features the original fixtures from the French Market stand. In the 1990s, Café Du Monde opened a stand inside Lakeside Mall itself, so once again, the two coffee stands are just a few blocks walk from each other. —Edward Branley, GoNOLA.com

ROSE NICAUD

Vintage photos — New Orleans, French Market

by Liz Williams, Director of the Southern Food & Beverage Museum S treet vending was alive and well in New Orleans in the 19 th and early 20 th centuries. Not everyone had access to a kitchen, nor were shops always open, so selling food on the street was not only popular — it was necessary. It also presented an opportunity for people of color, both slaves and free persons, to earn money. One of the most resourceful and creative of these vendeuses was Rose Nicaud. Rose Nicaud is considered to be the inventor of the coffee stand in New Orleans. She would have roasted, blended and ground her own coffee, perhaps adding chicory. She was known to sell her delicious coffee — both noir and au lait — in front of the St. Louis Cathedral, so that those who had fasted before attending Mass would be able to fortify themselves immediately after the service. Although in the beginning people stood near the stand to drink their coffee, Rose was later able to have a stand with seating at the French Market. She inspired others to create stands for selling coffee, as well as foods such as pralines and calas.

32

MY ROUSES EVERYDAY MAY | JUNE 2017