Coffee

Searching for coffee in Italy

- Head to the busiest cafe — likely what the locals call “un bar” — you can find. “If it’s the busiest, you know it’s the best,” says Peter Izzo, Cappuccino King’s vice president. “The bustling one, where people are lined up — that’s where you want to be.” - Remember that a cappuccino is a breakfast coffee, not one served after about 11 am, unless you’re a tourist. - You don’t have to tip, but take your receipt when you pay. It’s against the law to leave it behind. - Don’t expect to find a local roaster. Independent microroasters, old and new, are in Italy, but aren’t as common as, say, in Calgary or Edmonton or other major Canadian cities. Most places use beans from major brands such as Illy, Kimbo and Lavazza. - Arabica beans are the most common, but you’ll find arabicarobusta blends, especially as you travel south. Aficionados say coffee made with arabica beans taste better (smoother, sweeter and more chocolate-y) but robusta beans have more caffeine and make a better crema, the creamyfroth that forms on top of a freshly pulled espresso.

Coffee,

the Italian Way

BY SHELLEY BOETTCHER

appuccino King’s Peter Izzo

often gets people coming into his northeast Calgary showroom, searching for secrets. They’ve recently returned from Italy, and they can’t stop talking about the incredible coffee they enjoyed every morning.

“I’ll contradict them. It was probably a lousy cup of coffee and you paid too much for it,” he says with a laugh. “But you were sitting in the middle of a piazza that’s a couple thousand years old. You had your big sunglasses on, and you were feeling like Sophia Loren. Of course it was sensational.”

Still, anyone that has enjoyed an espresso or a cappuccino in Italy, or had good Italian coffee here, would likely argue that as a country no one quite knows and appreciates coffee quite like an Italian. You see, coffee in Italy has deep

Croots. In the 1500s, long before Italy was unified into the country we know now, Venetian traders were importing beans from Ethiopia, destined for coffeehouses throughout Europe. One of the world’s oldest coffee shops, Caffe Greco in Rome, has been open since 1760, the start of the Industrial Revolution. The legendary literary figure Johanne Wolfgang von Goethe drank coffee there, as did Casanova, and the poet Lord Byron. Just this year, the Italian government announced a bid to have Italian espresso added to UNESCO’s immaterial heritage list. (The decision was to be made public around press time, in spring 2022.) “Coffee is much more than a simple drink in Italy," Gian Marco Centinaio, the government’s Agriculture Undersecretary told media at the time. "It is an authentic

ritual; it is an integral part of the national identity and an expression of our sociality that distinguishes us around the world.”

The Western Canadian love affair with Italian coffee has a considerably shorter history. Izzo’s father, Vince Izzo, moved to Canada in 1968 and was underwhelmed by what he found. He teamed up with fellow Italians in Ontario, who were importing good beans from home, and then he began importing equipment from his favourite European manufacturers. Cappuccino King was born and, 50 years later, is still a must for anyone wanting to learn how to make great Italian coffee in Alberta.

Of course, some of us just want someone else make it for us. That’s where people like Renato Marfoglia come into the picture. Born to Italian parents in Montreal, Marfoglia visited the Spinelli Bar Italian at the Italian Centre Shop in Edmonton a few years ago, and, after finding out that a location was opening in Calgary, applied.

Now the cafe team lead, he pulls shots, day after day, for local fans. (The bar makes roughly 300 or so espresso drinks each day.) “The secret to a great coffee is love,” he says. Well, that and careful preparation, daily calibration of the shop’s beautiful La Marzocca espresso machine and, of course, good beans. “Fresh-ground beans are very important,” he says. “We use Kimbo Extra Cream Espresso coffee beans; the Italian Centre Shop’s five locations sell the most Kimbo coffee in North America!”

A teenager when he tried his first coffee — made by his mom and enjoyed

Renato Marfoglia

with lots of sugar — Marfoglia now drinks it straight-up. “You can taste the coffee better that way,” he says. He says that in Italy, coffee is about getting together with others. “It’s always combined with gathering. Whenever you’re having coffee, you’re never alone.”

That’s a sentiment that Izzo echoes. “In North America, you have your laptop in front of you and your coffee beside you,” says Izzo, who grew up spending his summers with family in Abruzzo. “But in Italy, it’s about taking a pause. You meet your colleagues or your friends. You talk about your day, and you get caught up. It’s about appreciating the moment, you know?”

Shelley is an award-winning Calgary-based writer and editor whose work has appeared in newspapers and magazines around the world. If she’s not drinking wine, she's probably drinking coffee. Visit drinkwithme.com.

A short guide to ordering coffee like an Italian

- Affogato — Vanilla gelato, with a shot of espresso poured over it. - Un caffe — a glorious little cup of espresso, usually served with a glass of lukewarm water on the side. - Caffe alla nocciola — An espresso combined with a rich hazelnut cream, typically found only in Naples. - Caffe corretto — Literally translated as a “corrected coffee,” an espresso with a shot of grappa (Italy’s famous grape spirit) added to it. - Caffe macchiato — An Shelley is an award-winning Calgary-based writer and editor whose work has appeared in newspapers and magazines around the world. espresso “stained” with a wee bit of milk. If she’s not drinking wine, she's probably drink-- Cappuccino — An espresso ing coffee. Visit drinkwithme.com. with steamed milk and foam, cappuccino is named after the brown robes of Capuchin monks. In Italy, the drink is smaller than we typically get in Canada; average cup size is about 180 mL. - Decaffeinato — Decaffeinated coffee, in case you didn’t guess that on your own. - Shakerato — Coffee shaken with ice and usually, sugar.

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