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# 62 • JUNE 12 , 2015
discover our new column The Italian Way
THE ITALIAN WAY:
Addressing the Italian
Stereotypes, Myth 4
“il caffè”
By Elda Buonanno Foley, PhD
While walking along the street in the early morning, in any
Italian corner you would smell
the omnipresent scent of freshly made coffee! Our philosophy in regards to coffee has
no equal: it is not simply a nice
and tasty short drink. It represents the social glue, the community sense of belonging,
the act of sealing any deals
and agreements of any sort or
shape. Italians are extremely
proud, maybe almost integralist, when talking about their
coffee: the supreme Italian
drink can only be taken in the
appropriate little cup (tazzina)
- no mugs are allowed - and
has its “do’s” and ”don’ts”.
schools of thought indicate
that the moka does not need
to be washed with soap, but
only rinsed with water, thus
keeping the fragrance of the
We start our daily routine with coffee. The ritual of making
a coffee at home or at the bar the coffee at home has an al(to be noted that Italian Bars most religious nature: the level
are places of social gathering). of the water needs to get to a
At home, we would make cof- certain point of the filter, the
fee with our “perfect” moka: coffee – powder- poured has
26 | WE THE ITALIANS
www.wetheitalians.com
to be piled up but not pushed
too much, and, once the coffee
is ready, you would let it “sit” in
the moka for an extra moment
to gather all its richness!
If, instead, you go to one of
the thousand Bars located
in any city, you have peculiar
choices to make: you could
chose amongst a caffè “cor-