An alternative or archaic spelling of chicory, a plant with blue flowers whose roots are used as a coffee substitute and whose leaves are eaten as greens.
From Old French 'chicorée,' itself from Latin 'cichorium,' which derives from Greek 'kikhoreia.' The alternative spelling 'cicoree' represents a variant pronunciation and spelling that was used in earlier English.
Chicory (or cicoree in older texts) was a crucial crop for common people through history—when coffee was expensive, roasted chicory root was the poor person's alternative, and its bitter taste is still mixed with coffee in New Orleans and parts of Europe today!
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