The Italian Voice

Here I am again after a long weekend without internet at home, I took the chance to care about several important things for the upcoming relocation and especially…we ordered the kitchen, how exciting, I will show it soon!!

Today I already had a very busy morning, paying bills, doing the grocery shopping, looking for other stuffs for the other rooms of the new flat.
In the meanwhile, the weather didn’t know what to choose between being sunny or cloudy, with the result that this morning I was out with a big annoying dampness, which is quite typical in the area of Bologna in this period of the year.

The result was that I came home with a light headache and a strong desire to relax on the sofa or maybe to take a nap for a couple of hours.
I just laid on the bed at about 3 pm (Italian time), when my all-rounder neighbour decided to turn on the mower and to start to mow the grass behind our block of flat, which is just under my bedroom’s window. He didn’t stop it yet after 1 hour, grrrr!!

Ok, I am learning the lesson, evidently this is not the right day for a nap, but I am in lack of physical force, I really need something, but what? Hmm….
Easy! Nothing better than a good caffè italiano to keep my mind active during this afternoon!

Tourists who visit Italy always remember, together with pasta, pizza and desserts, the fantastic wholesome taste of the caffè.

I always wondered why everybody think that we are so good at making coffee, as the ingredient is not native of Italy, but you know what?
In the last years, since the moment when I left my parents to live with my boyfriend, I discovered the secrets which makes the difference and I am here to reveal everything I know.

photo by KevThaBass

So take your book of recipes or your notebook and write down my suggestions.

Before any other step, you have to follow some important expedients:

1. buy a moka (if it is new, be sure to wash it and to try it at least twice without coffee and simply with water);

2. buy a good quality coffee, which has been freshly roasted and freshly ground (it is good also the packed one, but you have to open it and use it in a few months); for this aim, I can suggest to look for it at your local markets and supermarkets and, if you are not able to find the Italian quality of coffee, you can order it at Amazon, the best and most famous brand names here are surely: Lavazza, Illy, Nespresso (wonderful George Clooney during its commercial at the Italian tv), Nescafè, Hag, Pellini, Segafredo, Kimbo, Palombini and so on (I guess you will find only the first ones);

3. use only fresh cold and clean water.

Now you are ready to prepare your caffè:

1. open your moka in 3 parts (container, filter and boiler) and fill the base of the pot with cold water up to the safety valve which is inside the boiler, this is the correct quantity to have a good taste of coffee, to avoid it to be too watery or too strong;

2. insert the filter, use a teaspoon to fill in completely the filter with the coffee powder, but avoid to compact it, because the water has to pass easily withuot leaving a burnt taste;

3. screw the two parts of the moka and tighten them strongly to get a perfect seal;

4. put the moka on the stove with a very low flame and wait until the coffee come out from the upper portion of the pot; for a better taste, remember to keep the cap lifted, so that the heat avoid to create a condensation which would alter its aroma (for this purpose, it is suggested to use a couple of metallic little caps to put onto the hole from where the coffee exits, to ward off the splashes);

5. when the moka is almost completely filled up, turn off the stove, ease the coffee pot onto another cold stove and mix the liquid for one minute with a teaspoon, then pour it immediately into the tazzine, which are the little cups for coffee, and taste it with you preference (with sugar, milk, whipped cream, corretto with the add of alcoholic drinks, with cocoa on it or simply black).

There are also some fundamental hits to remember, also for the post-preparation:

1. use only the necessary coffee for your immediate needs, to have it always fresh, and prepare it again if it is not enough;

2. avoid to reheat it, because its taste surely will change and it will not be so good anymore;

3. just in case the coffee is abundant, put it into a sealed bottle instead of leaving it inside the pot, because with the days it generates toxic substances when the coffee gets in contact with the air and the steel of the moka (so simply wash it as soon as it cools off);

4. avoid to wash the moka with the washing-up liquid, because it will probably place itself into the filter, altering the aroma of the coffee; simply wash every part of the pot with water and also vinegar if you want.

Well, I must admit that it is easier to do it than reading it, all what I wrote it can happen in just 10 minutes!
So why do not you give my suggestions a try and prepare your good caffè italiano?
And please send them immediately, hihihi!