Photo by Tyler Nix on Unsplash
Have you noticed how many freaking special days there are out there? Well, today is one of them. It’s National Cappuccino Day! Yay!
You may wonder (or not) about how the cappuccino was invented. Well, I’m here to tell you about that, whether you like it or not.
Coffee consumption started off in the manner devised by the Ottomans, who made the beverage by bringing mixed coffee and water to a boil, sometimes adding sugar. Various methods of making coffee were developed, but it was the invention of the espresso machine that eventually brought about Italian coffee cuisine. Cappuccino is an espresso drink.
Portrait of a Capuchin, by Jan Zasiedatel
Cappuccino originated as the beverage “kapuziner” in Vienna coffee houses of the 1700s. That word kapuziner comes from the Capuchin monks in Vienna (and other places), who wore vestments of that color. The color of cappuccino, that is.
Now, if you want to make a real cappuccino (that is, an Italian cappuccino), here are the directions:
Pre-warm a 6-oz. cup.
Pull (a fancy word for brew or make) one or two shots of espresso into the cup.
Separately, either froth milk using the frothing wand of an espresso machine or warm the milk and use a handheld frother.
Pour hot, frothed milk over the espresso in the cup and place a portion of foam on top.
The American-Italian cappuccino tends to be one-third espresso, one-third milk, and one-third foam. In Italy, the milk isn’t frothed as thoroughly and is mixed with the espresso as a soupy foam that combines with espresso, rather than floating on top.
And, if you want to be truly Italian, you should never have a cappuccino after 10 or 11 a.m., depending on what source you want to believe. 🙂
Plus here’s a quick guide to coffee in Italy!
And here’s another set of directions for making cappuccino! 🙂
PS: Yesterday, Nov. 7 was National Stress Awareness Day. Unfortunately, I couldn’t blog about it, because I was so busy trying to manage my stress.
Yeah, right. 🙂
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