The subject of coffee in Buenos Aires has again reared her lovely cabeza morocha. My muse of the morning craves attention almost as much as I crave her so I'm happy to see the discussions.
Rightly so, the talk is of cafés mostly. Not to frequent cafés with friends or linger alone with a newspaper in this fine coffee town would be a sin and a shame. It follows that some controversy should surround the impending arrival of the Nipple-less Navel-less Nereida of the North. It goes to show that we take our coffee seriously.
The subject of en grano para la casa, however, takes too much of a back seat for my taste. This is especially so considering the astonishing undrinkability of ANY of the supermarket brands. You'd think a yanqui could muddle through any sort of lousy coffee but no. All of them are way too... too... BAD! Something Maciej Ceglowski said best in this post of his, possibly the greatest quick-take (he wasn't here very long!) on Argentine food ever written:
"Other dangers lurk in the Argentine pantry. Worst and most puzzling in a country settled by Italians is the horrible ground coffee. Most cafés and restaurants serve good espresso, but you are in the wilderness as soon as you try to find something you can brew at home. The idea of purchasing beans to grind seems to be a great novelty - it took several days of hunting to find both a grinder and something to put in it. Grocery store coffee is inevitably sold pre-ground and roasted with sugar, giving it a dark color and the taste and aroma of burnt socks. It's possible that coffee, like Argentine yogurt, is just meant as a delivery mechanism for sugar."Good beans can be had and taken home... you just have to look a little.
But what do you do with them once you get them back to la cocina?
No, I'm serious. What do YOU do with ground coffee at home?
Every junkie needs his set of works. What's yours? Tell us. Send a foto!
For me, it's the "italiana" pictured above. Not exactly as pictured above because in the morning I, à la Borges, recoil from any shiny surfaces in which I might see my reflection. Mine is double-dipped in black teflon.
If you're a foreign film fan sort of yanqui, you've seen these in every european kitchen.
I absolutely adore mine. It can't compare to a good espresso machine... but it's so much better than a bad espresso machine. And it takes up less precious kitchen space than anything of comparable importance to your mental health.
It's not a percolator. A percolator boils the water and the resultant coffee over and over again, passing it each time through the grounds until it's concentrated to your taste. That over-and-over action destroys a lot of the volatile oils that makes fresh roasted coffee so pleasing.
Nope. The cafetera italiana blows the boiling water and steam through the coffee only once, similar to a real espresso machine. Although, the italiana will never reach the number of atmopheres of pressure that allows the real machines and some of the better home models to achieve "crema" (sometimes known as "nirvana").
The "little fella" (more on that later) can do this because of his ingenious design best left to wikipedia to describe. If you really pack your grounds into it... you get a brew comparable to espresso. Delicious and convenient in your nakedness as you coax yourself into the shower.
The machine was invented in 1930's Italy by Alfonso Bialetti and the original is known for it's "little man" logo. Europe has been riddled with knock-offs ever since. The Argentine version is identical and the Volturno site makes no reference to the design's provenance.
The story of its creation is wrapped up in the fascism of the day and is chronicled in this terrific history:
During the 1920's Bialetti noticed the laundry methods used by local women. The wash was boiled in tubs with a central pipe in the middle. This pipe would draw the soapy water up and redistribute it over the laundry. Bialetti's creative mind brought him to the conclusion that a simple coffee machine could be fashioned on this model and could produce real "espresso type" coffee in the private home.Entonces, drop us a line, leave a comment, tell us what you use to fix at home!
17 comments:
I can't believe I read the whole thing, but it is very well written, easy to read and I never saw any mistakes.
At my age I thought I knew everything about coffee and how to make it and how to drink it. The hardest part was finding "good" coffee beans to grind during World War II. Mother and I used to find them at the Kroger's grocery store in Annie Oakley's hometown where we eventually went to live, Greenville, Ohio.
I have always loved the smell of coffee being ground in a grocery store. I have also always liked coffee to drink especially in the morning.
We had a coffee maker that perked coffee and was interesting to watch and it made good coffee. My dad often made "boiled" coffee. That was good too but you have to contend with the grounds floating in the mix.
I have in these modern times, bought and tried a real "French Press" but don't like to fool with it and it is perched on the top shelf in the cupboard where it has been, hopefully forgotten.
So we use a Mr. Coffee making machine that produces four cups of what we call, "Coffee." By adding more or less "heaping" to the teaspoon we can make it stronger or lighter. Since I am the only one here who drinks it, I can make it pretty much to my taste.
There is an art to drinking coffee and that is not to let it set too long but to drink it when it just about scalds the back of your throat going down.
It is early morning here and I have just finished my first cup of coffee.
That's what we call it.
Linc,
It reminds me a lot of something Mark Twain once wrote:
"You tell me whar a man gits his corn-pone, en I’ll tell you what his ‘pinions is."
Coffee is the new 'pone!
You know before I came here I was never a huge coffee drinker, sure i've been addicted to caffeine since age 12, but usually got my fix from other things. Now that i'm here, I have taken to drinking coffee often, because it's part of the culture, and it's good to get immersed.
I've noticed that if someone offers me coffee, and I say no, they will either
A. give me coffee anyway
B. continue to ask me until I finally say yes.
Anyway, I love coffee now! Usually black, but sometimes with sugar, it really hits the spot!
How 'bout it. It's kinda like Minnesota where you have to say "no" three times... or else you get the strudel anyway.
Hey, are you an instant man?
As a matter of fact, I am! I make the instant coffee in the morning, and in the afternoon, me and my girlfriends mom drink the grounded bean type (I know there is a better name for that).
Vietnamese filter + Cafe Du Monde
Too bad Du Monde isn't available here
http://www.ineedcoffee.com/04/vietnamese/
Far out! Everybody paste that link!
I've never heard of a Vietnamese filter... but I had a girl friend from Tokyo for many years that was a fanatic for Eagle Brand.
Eagle Brand could be described as "white dulce de leche", so very condensed and sweetened that there is usually a trace of brown sugar lurking around the inside edges of the can.
Café du Monde, with it's chicory, was a favorite of another girlfriend ...from New Orleans. She swore by it. Especially with beignets! I think you can get chicory root in BsAs... if not, I'll plant some for you in the campo!
Thanks!
Mike
The vietnamese friends who introduced me to it allowed the coffee to drip much slower than what that site and many others say.
Potent stuff I tell ya for how long it steeps. Like a good asado I guess, where slow equals better outcome. With the condensed milk the flavor comes off as fresh and crisp. The coffee actually tastes like the smell of freshly brewed coffee. No acidity. No sourness. Maybe it's the Cafe du Monde, I don't know but it just works.
I'm going to pick up a couple up in the States next month. I'll grab an extra one if you want, they're super small and easy to carry.
You're the greatest, Marc!
But I got over chicory coffee a few years after I got over that red-haired cajun woman...
My taste for chicory coffee lasted longer than my taste for her.
But it was ALL good, byebay.
Vietnamese coffee makes me shake like a junkie coming off the H! Although it sure smells gorgeous!
Instant ewwww....but it makes a mean cold coffee. Everyone in Greece drinks it this way when they get up in the summer time.
You need a tall plastic container with a lid, add instant coffee, sugar, cold water and ice. Shake it well and miraculously it will create a triple layered effect like a latte or B52! add a straw and enjoy!
I don't usually drink coffee in the campo. I drink tea with my suegra and/or mate with Miguel.
But this last time... I wanted coffee and all there ever is there is instant. So I had a cup and sat in the morning sun while my missus ran around like a crazy person.
It was the best cup of instant I ever had. I splashed a little heavy cream into it and really enjoyed it.
Why don´t you buy one of those cotton strainers on a wire to make coffee in the campo? Actually is easier than the Vietnamese contraption.
If you want to get Colombian and other country's fresh coffee go to a coffee store called Cafezenda in Santos Dumont and Cabildo (Palermo, limit with Belgrano). The smell when you pass by the door is excellent and they sell it in beans. cheers.
¡Cafezenda! Yeah. I remember it now. I drifted by there a couple of years ago. Seemed to be a great place. I think it deserves another look! Maybe with fotos!
I live around the corner, I can send you picks if you wish....
Mike,
If I were you, I wouldn't make my coffee down here in a Teflon "italiana". First off, I wouldn't use Teflon, because it requires it to be used properly by keeping it at a low cooking temperature.
I especially wouldn't use it over an open gas flame like most of the stoves in Argentina, as it would be impossible to prevent the Teflon area from getting too hot and releasing its fumes.
Some people would argue that those fumes do nothing to humans. They might be right. However, it kills parrots and other large bird species. What it actually does to humans has not be thoroughly tested. Therefore, would you really want to take the risk?
I hate to sound like a worrier or scare-mongerer; but I feel I will be vindicated in a few short years. Here's Teflon's own information page:
http://www.teflon.com/NASApp/Teflon/TeflonPageServlet?pageId=/consumer/na/eng/housewares/keyword/teflon_keyword_birds.html
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