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Coffee makers
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| Mocha, Espresso or Neapolitan- each type of coffee maker produces a correspondingly different taste for Italy's best-loved drink. If originally green coffee beans were simply chewed for an extra boost to the system, it was the Arabs who in, medieval times, first discovered the possibility of using it to make an infusion. And if the first coffee bar was opened by the Turks in Constantinople in 1554, it took two whole centuries until the end of the eighteenth century for coffee to conquer Europe. But it was only in the middle of the nineteenth century, when new implements for preparing it became available, that the original classic infusion coffee pot was rapidly replaced. |
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Espresso is without doubt the type of coffee which in the collective imagination is most associated with Italy. And rightly so; the bar espresso machine is typically Italian. After the first prototypes -the first patent dates back to 1822, when it was deposited in London by the Frenchman Rabaut- it was in Italy that the first espresso machine was perfected and widely used. The first, designed by the Milanese engineer Luigi Bezzera, dates from 1901 - an imposing column-shaped machine which was produced by the historic Pavoni Company of Milan. It uses the pressure produced by steam to a twofold advantage - speed of preparation and a more full-bodied taste. The increased pressure permits the emission of the aromatic substances in coffee and gives it a creamy, velvety texture.
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The queen of home coffee-making, and a must in every kitchen. The Mocha coffee pot was invented in 1933 when the industrialist Alfonso Bialetti launched his "Moka Express" in aluminium, a trend-setting model which is still in use today and has remained practically unchanged, with its octagonal shape in the Art Déco style. The lower part acts as a boiler, from which the water, once it comes to boiling point, is pushed upwards by the steam until it passes through the filter above containing ground coffee. The aromatic liquid continues to rise until it has filled the upper container. Once the coffee has risen, it is advisable to turn the burner off immediately to avoid the unpleasant taste which boiling imparts due to the excessive roasting of the coffee. A good coffee can be had by filling the boiler no higher than the level of the valve, and by not filling the filter too much; in any case, ground coffee should never be pressed down.
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THE NEAPOLITAN COFFEE MAKER |
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This was the domestic coffee pot most commonly in use before the arrival of the Mocha pot. Nowadays it is still used, particularly in Naples, and remains associated with a poetic ideal of better times and preparing coffee. The procedure with the Neapolitan coffee maker is rather slow, and recalls moments of conviviality, chatting around the table waiting for the scented liquid to filter through. This coffee maker, usually made of tin, consists of a lower boiler which holds the water, a metal filter which contains the coffee, and an upper pot. When the water boils it begins to come out of a hole in the boiler. This is the signal that it is time to take the pot off the burner and turn it upside down; then the filtering phase begins, during which the water trickles out slowly into the bottom part through the coffee. This ritual has been described by the writer Eduardo de Filippo, icon of the Neapolitan theatre, in one of his comedies, who adds a colourful note; to prevent the liquid from becoming cold while waiting, the spout was covered by a hood made of metal or aluminium foil, called a 'cuppitiello' in Neapolitan dialect.
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FROM TURKISH TO AMERICAN COFFEE |
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Outside Italy, coffee has different traditions and customs. In Turkey, Greece and various countries in the Middle East and the Balkans, a so-called Turkish coffee is drunk, prepared in the traditional 'ibrik', the copper and brass pot in which sweetened water is brought to the boil. Once it is boiling, the water is removed from the heat and coffee is added, ground to a fine powder. At this point, the pot is replaced on the flame and the drink is stirred as soon as it begins to froth; the operation is repeated three times. Finally, it is poured into cups and left to rest before drinking until the sediment falls to the bottom.
A long, weak coffee is obtained, on the other hand, by the 'American' method. Coffee is finely ground and placed in a paper or fabric funnel-shaped filter, then boiling water is poured over it and the liquid is left to filter through into the glass receptacle below. The 'melior' system is also used, which consists of a special boiler, also used for herbal infusions, in which a metal plunger filter is inserted. With the downward pressure, the water passes through the coffee contained in the filter and a light, aromatic drink is obtained.
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