Rules for the Perfect Coffee – Part 1
Written by admin on 30 April, 2009 – 3:29 pm -
Recall that Friday 17 April was Espresso Italiano Day 2009 – the first national day of the espresso and cappuccino, organised by the Istituto Nazionale Espresso Italiano. Well here is the first part of the vademecum that I picked up in one of the bars in Turin. Part 2 will follow next week. A big thank you to Carlo Odello (Istituto Nazionale Espresso Italiano) for allowing me to publish it.
A translation will follow soon for those who don’t speak or are learning Italian. It might be good practice to try and understand it yourself first – maybe over a nice cappuccino!
Please let me know how you feel about these ‘rules’ and if you have any other tips add them in the comments below.
Posted in Food & Drink | 1 Comment »
Espresso Yourself!
Written by admin on 17 April, 2009 – 5:37 am -
Today is Espresso Italiano Day 2009 – the first national day of the espresso and cappuccino, organised by the Istituto Nazionale Espresso Italiano. This is something Mr Cappuccino and all coffee lovers must celebrate!
The espresso is a small drink with a strong hold over the Italians. In fact it is estimated that about 70 million cups of it are consumed at the bar each day! That’s an amazing statistic.
There will be about 3000 selected bars distributing in omaggio half a million vademecum or handbooks describing the qualities of a Certified Espresso Italiano and giving useful tips on how to discern the professionalism of a barista.
So what is the perfect coffee? According to the Secretary General of the Institute “deve avere una crema di color nocciola, a tessitura finissima, senza bolle più o meno grandi“, in other words it must have a hazelnut coloured froth, a fine texture, and an even layer of bubbles.
And where should one drink the perfect coffee? Everyone probably has a favourite bar. Living in Turin I am spoilt for choice and maybe have the best bars in the whole of Italy (feel free to disagree). I highly recommend four of them: Caffè Torino, Caffè Ghigo, Baratti & Milano and Platti. But beware. These are historic bars so I normally have my coffee in piedi (standing up) otherwise I might have to take out a mortgage in order to pay the bill!
Do you have any coffee tips, favourite bars, links to sites ecc? Please feel free to share in the comment section below.
Posted in Food & Drink | 4 Comments »
Mooooooo
Written by admin on 15 April, 2009 – 11:44 am -
Distributore di latte crudo
This week I bought some latte crudo (’raw’ milk) from a special distributor in the centre of Cherasco, Piedmont. For quite some time I have been wanting to make a cappuccino using fresh milk straight from the cow and last night I finally managed it. Was it better than my usual cappuccino? Keep reading to find out.
Posted in Food & Drink | 1 Comment »
Let’s Pizza!
Written by admin on 19 March, 2009 – 4:05 pm -
Photograph from popaitaly on Flickr
Fancy a pizza in the middle of the night? All the restaurants and pizzerias are closed. You forgot to buy a frozen pizza during your last shopping trip. What can you do??? Well fear not. Soon you will be able to get a freshly prepared pizza 24/7.
“How is this possible?” I hear you ask.
“Let’s Pizza“, an automated vending machine, will make the pizza for you from scratch. Watch and be amazed as the machine prepares the dough, tomato sauce and fresh ingredients, delivering a pizza in under 3 minutes.
I can’t wait to hear what the Italians, or anyone who reads this, will make of it. I look forward to your comments.
Posted in Food & Drink | 2 Comments »
CioccolaTò
Written by admin on 7 March, 2009 – 1:50 pm -
Gianduja talks about his Piedmontese chocolate, the Gianduiotto
Turin, the chocolate capital of Italy, is now hosting its annual festival CioccolaTò. Many famous chocolatiers will be exhibiting their products in Piazza Vittorio Veneto, among them such famous names as Guido Gobino, LINDT, Peyrano, Avidano and Caffarel. To allow people to sample the different chocolates there is Chocopass, a carnet costing €12 which contains 22 tastings and is valid for 3 days.
Continue reading …
Posted in Food & Drink | 6 Comments »
How Do You Like Your Coffee?
Written by admin on 10 February, 2009 – 11:50 am -
Cappuccino con panna (Bar Roma, Alba, Piedmont)
Posted in Food & Drink | 9 Comments »
Sweet Little Lies
Written by admin on 28 January, 2009 – 9:30 am -
These are Bugie which literally means lies. They are a typical biscuit / sweet snack available during the carnival period (i.e. before Lent).
Posted in Food & Drink | 5 Comments »
