Regional coffees of Italy: 8 versions of espresso

2023 Author: Cody Thornton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-11-26 19:13

Worried about the health implications of the British, and appalled by some type of coffee shop chains Starbucks, which also sell sweetened drinks with 25 teaspoons of sugar, The Guardian elevates to model the espresso: from Trieste to Palermo, Italians drink it at most with a teaspoon of sugar.

I specified that Frappuccino in Italy does not exist at all - NEVER - the English newspaper reviews some national habits at the bar (nicely glossing over the psychotic ritual of the average Italian - long or short espresso, large or small cup, hot or lukewarm, macchiato or not stained, correct or modern correct, bitter or sweet, cold or shaken).

The only regional variation on the espresso theme mentioned in the article is the Piedmontese Moroccan (cup of coffee, cocoa and milk foam).

But the consumption of espresso in Italy comes from afar, and the regional traditions rich in history and charm are many more. Let's see some of them broken down by region.

CALABRIA - CALABRIAN COFFEE

Coffee and brandy, mixed with the excellent Calabrian licorice. Simple recipe that requires some precautions and badly binds to those suffering from hypertension.

Place the brown sugar in a small glass, add the Brandy, then the bartender heats everything using the steam wand. Meanwhile, in a mortar, a licorice tablet is crushed to add to the heated liqueur. Once the espresso is combined and it is drunk hot.

CAMPANIA - NEAPOLITAN COFFEE

The tradition of Neapolitan coffee is closely linked to the ancient production of hazelnuts of Giffoni, from which the napolitaner wafers are also derived, in which the hazelnuts of the small town in the province of Salerno are used for their incredible aromatic charge.

Like many popular recipes there is no version carved in stone, plus a series of variations on the theme of the basic ingredients which are coffee and hazelnut cream.

Often a tuft of cream is added to make it rest on the surface and underline the thermal contrast with the very hot cup.

MARCHE - MORETTA DI FANO

Dolce moretta was the fishermen's drink of the late nineteenth century in the small town in the Marche region, at first a digestive or a corroborant for the afternoon used as a form of recycling alcohol.

The three-level stratification typical of the current version takes shape after the war, with the emergence of the espresso machine. A mixture of anise, rum and sugar is added to the coffee, heated with a lemon peel which remains layered.

The home version of the brunette also circulates in the Fano area. It is made with the mocha, mixing 20 ml of Vernelli anise, 10 ml of rum and sugar with the coffee.

PIEDMONT - BICERIN

The ancestor of the famous Turin Bicerin is Bavareisa, an eighteenth-century drink of French origins in which coffee, chocolate and liquid cream were mixed together, and not separated into three layers. With the new method, the recipe has stabilized, and so has the habit of sipping it together with dips. These are pleasant artisanal sweets today often replaced by the pastries of meliga, a typical shortbread of the Cuneo area.

Simple preparation: for each coffee add 30 ml of hot chocolate and mix; immediately afterwards, using a teaspoon, the layer of liquid cream is added.

The Milanese beardie should also be mentioned in this genre, if it weren't for the fact that it is an imitation of Bicerin bordering on plagiarism. Domenico Barbaja, before "inventing" it in Milan, was in fact a coffee boy in the Piedmontese capital.

PUGLIA - SALENTINA COFFEE

Since the 1950s it has been the official drink of the Lecce summers. For the Salento bartenders, preparation is a real ritual that allows you to cool the coffee but without watering it down. To sweeten the drink, extremely thirst-quenching, almond milk from Bari or Foggia is added.

There are two methods for making almond milk: the dough dissolved in water or the syrup, as usually happens in the clubs of the coast. It should be placed at the base of the small glass before pouring a long espresso. Everything is covered with a lot of ice.

Before drinking it, it is good to mix it to prevent all the syrup from remaining at the bottom. Ideal pairing: Ceglie biscuits, Slow Food Presidium of Messapica.

TUSCANY - PONCE ALLA LIVORNESE

Punch alla livornese, as the name points out, is the Italianized version of the well-known English punch, but with coffee instead of tea. And the great British colony of Livorno was responsible for the habit immediately assimilated by the locals.

Another variation is the fantasy rum (or rumme) instead of the original Antillean rum, an invention of the Leghorn people represented by alcohol, sugar and dark caramel.

In the nineteenth century, preparation was more complex and involved an initial boiling of ground coffee in a pot full of water. By doing this, an infusion was obtained which was then filtered with a woolen cloth and placed in the coffee pot. The coffee coming out of the machine was combined using a measuring cup with rumme, or a version of Mistrà, the green aniseed liqueur macerated in alcohol, called mastic.

What the Leghorns drink today is the version developed in the 1950s, characterized by the lemon sail that adds a citrus note. But the barmen of the Tuscan city will explain to you that initially the lemon strip was passed all over the edge to sanitize the cup.

VAL D’AOSTA - COFFEE ALLA VALDOSTANA

The café à la cognèntse, from Cogne, the town where it is most widespread, is social by definition. This is thanks to the community wooden container, called grolla, or more often cup of friendship, like the one photographed above.

For each cup of coffee, the barista serves half of grappa or genepì, two teaspoons of sugar, a lemon and orange peel, cloves, cinnamon and juniper.

A long, hot espresso coffee is poured into the cup, or, better still, prepared by direct infusion; then add the sugar, peel and spices. First sprinkle the rim of the cup with sugar moistened with grappa, then pour the rest into the coffee.

Here is the spectacular moment: the liquid is set on fire by stirring with a spoon and letting it burn until the sugar on the edge is completely caramelized.

Turning off the flame with the lid, the friends, one after the other and strictly counterclockwise, drink the coffee from the different spouts of the cup, a method known as: à la ronde.

VENETO - CAFFE’PADOVANO

Saying Caffè Pedrocchi to the Paduans means recalling the glories of one of the most famous Italian historic cafes. And historical is this recipe linked to Antonio Pedrocchi, who in 1826 designed a roasting including a bar, which soon became the meeting place for the intellectuals of the time.

Cream placed on an espresso base, then add the milk and a sprinkling of cocoa. The peculiarity, or if you prefer the aesthetic and indeed intellectual quirk, lies in the use of mint syrup to recreate the colors of the coffee from Padua (marketing ante litteram of the Pedrocchi).

To make the cream to add to the coffee, the barmen combine syrup, milk and cream, then emulsify the mixture with a shaker so that it is well aerated.