Ce matin, un autre souvenir taquine ma caboche. Une histoire magnifique qui veut clamer sa notori\u00e9t\u00e9. Vous le savez d\u00e9j\u00e0, j\u2019ai ouvert le premier petit resto CORA le 27\u00a0mai\u00a01987, le jour de mes 40\u00a0ans. \u00c7a veut certainement dire qu\u2019il n\u2019est jamais trop tard pour entreprendre un grand r\u00eave.<\/p>\n
Mes trois enfants et moi travaillions tr\u00e8s fort \u00e0 nous sortir de la pauvret\u00e9. Je m\u2019en souviens comme si c\u2019\u00e9tait hier, et pourtant, 36\u00a0longues ann\u00e9es se sont \u00e9coul\u00e9es \u00e0 surprendre nos clients. Mes ados et moi avions ce m\u00eame talent cr\u00e9atif pour surprendre et \u00e9blouir notre client\u00e8le. C\u2019est donc ainsi dispos\u00e9e que ma grande fille Gigi arriva un beau samedi matin de 1990 dans notre deuxi\u00e8me restaurant en m\u00eame temps que monsieur POM, notre boulanger, tout joyeux d\u2019avoir \u00e0 nous pr\u00e9senter un nouveau produit.<\/p>\n
Ma belle Gigi perspicace, gourmande et aussi curieuse qu\u2019une chouette, s\u2019empressa d\u2019agripper la surprise des mains du boulanger. Elle en d\u00e9chira l\u2019emballage et, pendant quelques longues minutes, examina, palpa et huma la magnifique brioche raisin-cannelle qui allait devenir, dans nos restos, l\u2019\u00e9lue de millions de clients \u00e0 la dent sucr\u00e9e-sal\u00e9e.<\/p>\n
Sans prononcer un seul mot, l\u2019experte en surprises ph\u00e9nom\u00e9nales trancha la brioche en plein milieu dans le sens de la largeur, ignorant totalement la figure d\u00e9confite du boulanger qui la d\u00e9visageait. Comme \u00e9gar\u00e9e dans ses pens\u00e9es, la jeune cuisini\u00e8re examina les fruits \u00e9tal\u00e9s sur le comptoir devant ses yeux. Le boulanger, la jeune serveuse maniaque de bonne nourriture et moi-m\u00eame \u00e9tions tous les trois bouche b\u00e9e.<\/p>\n
Ma fille r\u00e9fl\u00e9chissait. Elle sourit enfin et nous imposa le silence. Pendant quelques instants, on eut cru entendre ses neurones transmettre un signal d\u2019\u00e9blouissement garanti. Gigi trempa chaque demi-brioche dans notre d\u00e9licieux m\u00e9lange \u00e0 pain dor\u00e9 aromatis\u00e9 et les coucha d\u00e9licatement sur la plaque chauffante. Les morceaux commenc\u00e8rent par frissonner de peur puis, c\u00e9dant peu \u00e0 peu \u00e0 la chaude embrassade, la brioche se transforma en un surprenant d\u00e9lice.<\/p>\n
\u00c0 l\u2019instant o\u00f9 la spatule souleva les deux morceaux bien dor\u00e9s pour les d\u00e9poser dans une grande assiette oblongue, le visage de ma fille s\u2019illumina. Comme je m\u2019en doutais, j\u2019ai vite su qu\u2019une nouvelle vedette allait s\u2019ajouter au panth\u00e9on de notre menu.<\/p>\n
Gigi la magicienne d\u00e9posa un bel \u0153uf miroir et deux tranches de bacon sur une moiti\u00e9 de la brioche dor\u00e9e et orna l\u2019autre d\u2019une montagne de fruits joliment taillad\u00e9s. \u00ab\u00a0Voil\u00e0, maman!\u00a0\u00bb, me dit-elle, plut\u00f4t fi\u00e8re d\u2019elle. \u00ab\u00a0Bravo, ch\u00e8re fille! Depuis le temps que je vous plante des graines dans le coco, voici enfin une merveilleuse r\u00e9colte.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
Nous avons baptis\u00e9 ce plat \u00ab\u00a0LA R\u00c9COLTE\u00a090\u00a0\u00bb et l\u2019avons imm\u00e9diatement offert aux habitu\u00e9s du comptoir. Ce d\u00e9jeuner sucr\u00e9-sal\u00e9, devint en quelques jours l\u2019idole incontest\u00e9e de toutes les illustrations placard\u00e9es sur les murs de ce deuxi\u00e8me resto Cora.<\/p>\n
Enivr\u00e9e par la popularit\u00e9 que lui valait sa r\u00e9cente d\u00e9couverte, ma fille a insist\u00e9 pour que nous fassions imprimer un menu, un vrai, qui \u00e9viterait \u00e0 la client\u00e8le de se tordre le cou pour trouver sur les murs leur choix de plats. Un menu qui, surtout, expliquerait en d\u00e9tail la composition de la d\u00e9licieuse R\u00c9COLTE\u00a090 tout en soulignant que le plat a \u00e9t\u00e9 cr\u00e9\u00e9 par nulle autre que ma talentueuse fille, mademoiselle Gigi.<\/p>\n
Comme nous savions qu\u2019il faut battre le fer pendant qu\u2019il est chaud, j\u2019ai ajout\u00e9 quelques heures \u00e0 mes t\u00e2ches quotidiennes pour composer un premier menu. Enti\u00e8rement dessin\u00e9 \u00e0 la main en noir et blanc, il \u00e9tait imprim\u00e9 sur une immense page pli\u00e9e en quatre qui fit damner nos clients pendant quelques ann\u00e9es, jusqu\u2019\u00e0 ce que nous puissions am\u00e9liorer nos aptitudes et nos moyens financiers. La R\u00c9COLTE\u00a090 demeure, tant d\u2019ann\u00e9es plus tard, un des plats les plus populaires que nous ayons invent\u00e9s. Imit\u00e9 et copi\u00e9 \u00e0 outrance partout o\u00f9 l\u2019on sert des d\u00e9jeuners, ce magnifique sucr\u00e9-sal\u00e9 repr\u00e9sente un bel exemple des effets de la r\u00e9volution matinale initi\u00e9e en 1987 avec l\u2019arriv\u00e9e des restaurants Cora.<\/p>\n
Toutes les raisons sont bonnes pour s\u2019accorder une R\u00c9COLTE 90, une d\u00e9licieuse consolation, un sucr\u00e9-sal\u00e9 de bon d\u00e9jeuner!<\/p>\n
Cora
\n\u2764<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ce matin, un autre souvenir taquine ma caboche. Une histoire magnifique qui […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":414,"featured_media":28911,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28910","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lettre-mme-cora"],"acf":{"img_en":"","contenu_en":"This morning another memory tugs at my mind \u2013 a wonderful story begging for the spotlight. I opened the first small Cora restaurant the day I turned 40, on May 27, 1987. Proof that it\u2019s never too late to dream big.\r\n\r\nMy three kids and I were working hard to lift ourselves out of poverty. I remember those days, 36 years ago, like it was only yesterday. My teenagers and I shared the same endless creative talent that continued to delight our clientele. One beautiful Saturday morning, Gigi arrived at our second restaurant exactly at the same time as Monsieur Pom, our baker, who was excited to share a new product with us.\r\n\r\nMy darling Gigi, a discerning food lover who\u2019s as curious as an owl, rushed forward and took the surprise from his hands. She tore off the packaging and, for a few long minutes, examined, pressed and sniffed the magnificent cinnamon-raisin brioche that would eventually become the choice of millions of our customers with a sweet \u2019n salty appetite.\r\n\r\nWithout saying a word, our in-house conjurer of amazing delights, sliced the brioche horizontally in the middle, oblivious to the baffled gaze of the baker. Lost in her thoughts, the young cook surveyed the fruit counter in front of her. The baker, myself and a food-obsessed waitress were all speechless.\r\n\r\nMy daughter\u2019s mind was turning. Then she smiled and called for silence. For a few moments, you could almost hear her neurons crackling, foreshadowing something dazzling to come. Gigi dipped each brioche half into our deliciously spiced French toast batter and gently laid them on the griddle. The bread began to quiver before gradually embracing the warmth and crisping into an unexpected treat.\r\n\r\nMy daughter\u2019s face lit up the moment she slipped a spatula under the two golden pieces to transfer them to a large oblong plate. Knowing her, I realized that a new star had just joined the Pantheon of our breakfast menu.\r\n\r\nGigi the magician placed a nice sunny-side-up egg and two slices of bacon on one brioche half and garnished the other with a mountain of beautifully cut fresh fruit. \u201cThere you go, Mom,\u201d she said rather pleased with herself. \u201cBravo, my talented daughter! After all the seeds I have been planting in your head, at last, a wonderful harvest.\u201d\r\n\r\nWe christened the new dish \u201c1990\u2019s HARVEST.\u201d The regulars sitting at the counter were immediately offered a taste, and a few days afterwards, the new dish was the reigning star of the illustrations adorning the walls of the second Cora restaurant.\r\n\r\nElated by the success of her recent creation, my daughter insisted that we print up a proper menu. This way customers wouldn\u2019t have to twist their necks to look at the walls to see what was available. A menu that would provide a deliciously detailed description of the 1990\u2019s HARVEST, along with a line crediting its creation to none other than mademoiselle Gigi.\r\n\r\nOf course, one must strike the iron while it\u2019s hot, so I put a few extra hours in each day to put together our first menu. Entirely hand-drawn by myself in black and white, the menu was printed on a single large sheet and folded in four, a source of frustration for our poor customers for a few years until we could improve our skills and financial means. Three decades later, 1990\u2019s harvest remains one of the most popular breakfasts we\u2019ve invented. Imitated and copied left and right wherever breakfast is served, this outstanding sweet \u2019n salty dish is a fine example of the effects of the morning gastronomic revolution that started in 1987 with the arrival of Cora restaurants.\r\n\r\nAny reason is a good reason to treat yourself to a 1990\u2019s harvest. A delicious, comforting dish and a darn good sweet \u2019n salty breakfast!\r\n\r\nCora\r\n\u2764"},"yoast_head":"\n