How an Egg Replaced the Paper Filter or Scandinavian Coffee Recipe 0 11

Who Came Up with Adding an Egg to Coffee

It would be logical if Scandinavian coffee (Swedish egg coffee) originated in Sweden or Norway. However, this interesting culinary phenomenon actually arose in the Midwest of the United States in the 19th century, during the era of mass migration of Europeans to America.

The Scandinavians who arrived in the U.S., wishing to maintain their connection with one another, attended Protestant churches weekly, where they enjoyed socializing in an informal setting after the service. Typically, these gatherings took place in a basement room and lasted quite a while: everyone wanted to share news. The meetings were accompanied by coffee breaks, and substantial amounts of coffee were required. That is why coffee made by this method is also referred to as "Lutheran coffee" and "church basement coffee." The cheapest beans were purchased for such events, so to somehow improve the taste of the drink and get rid of the grounds, resourceful Scandinavians came up with the idea of throwing a... chicken egg into the coffee pot.

How an Egg Filters Coffee

Egg whites have been used for centuries to remove sediment in broth and red wine. The Scandinavians simply figured out that an egg could help with cloudy coffee as well. When exposed to high temperatures, the structure of the proteins breaks down, and they bind with other macroparticles in the water. As the coffee pot heats up, a foamy mass of ground coffee and eggs begins to form.

Although this byproduct does not look very appealing, it is key to improving the flavor: the egg white neutralizes the sharpness and acidity of low-quality beans. The protein-bound mass remains in the coffee pot, while the already filtered drink flows out from the spout with a simple mesh filter. The post-service meeting is saved: no bitterness or sourness in the cups of the good parishioners. And the grounds also become noticeably less.

Testing the Scandinavian Coffee Recipe

For the experiment, it is better to take a coffee pot or a small saucepan. You can also try making coffee with an egg in a cezve (and we did), but its volume is still a bit small.

• Mix one raw egg and ground coffee (2–3 teaspoons per 200 ml of water) in a cup. You can also add eggshell to the mixture: it is believed to improve the flavor of the drink as well.

• Heat water in the coffee pot and add the resulting mixture to it.

• Bring to a boil and simmer the coffee a bit by reducing the heat to a minimum. The original recipe suggests waiting three to four minutes. It sounds like barbarism, but if the coffee is of poor quality, there is nothing to lose.

• Remove the coffee pot from the heat and filter the resulting coffee.

• The finished coffee does not look very appetizing: many protein particles remain in it. So without a good paper filter or at least a sieve, it is still impossible to get around. After additional filtering, the drink externally and in taste resembles delicate coffee with milk: it acquires a barely noticeable protein flavor.