Skip to main content

Featured

Bloody Butcher Polenta Bowl

  When you cook polenta, a thin skin forms on the pan.  This edible bowl is what formed on the pan I used to cook bloody butcher polenta.  It was the perfect size for a salad for two.  The deep red of the polenta, the pink radicchio and red onion made a beautiful and delicious salad.

Making Italian Coffee



Knowing how to make your own coffee in your apartment will save you time and money.  Most kitchens in Italy will not have an automatic drip coffee machine, but learning to make your own coffee is easy.  Look around the kitchen and chances are you will find a cute little coffee pot for brewing coffee.  It might look something like this.


The top part holds your freshly brewed coffee and the bottom part is the water reservoir.  The two are threaded.  Grasp the pot by top and bottom (not by the handle) and twist the top part counter clockwise.  Inside you should find the gasket, the filter, and the grounds basket.  The gasket and filter may be stuck in the top part. 


Fill the reservoir with cold water.  You will notice that there is a valve built into one side of the reservoir.  Fill until the water is just below the valve.  

 

Insert the grounds basket and fill it with ground coffee.  Don’t tamp it down, just fill it up loosely, brush any loose grounds off the top edge and screw the top back on snugly.

Set the moka pot on the smallest burner making sure the handle is well away from the heat source.  The boiling water will force it’s way up through the grounds, through the stem, and into the top of the moka pot.  When you hear a burbling noise you know your coffee is done. 

Coffee made in a moka pot is stronger than automatic drip coffee.  Too strong for you?  Add some hot water to taste.

You can practice making moka pot coffee here at home.  I recommend buying a moka pot with replaceable gaskets.  Bialetti makes an excellent moka pot in several styles and replacement parts are available on Amazon.  If you love moka pot coffee like I do, consider going to a Bialetti store when you visit Italy.  They have so many different styles and colors of stove top coffee makers.  You can also get an amazing array of cups just the right size for your morning coffee.


My next door  neighbor in Sacile referred to this kind of coffee as "Italian Coffee."  Grazie, Manuela, your coffee and conversation were wonderful.

Comments

Popular Posts