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For true Italian coffee lovers...

Marocchino coffee: same taste, different names
This drink is quite common everywhere in Italy, but depending on the region it has different names. In Piedmont, it is called “marocchino,” but sometimes also called “bicerin”, whereas in some areas in the south, it goes by the name of “vetrino” and you may even hear it called “espressino”. Even the order of the ingredients, which, as we have seen, is fundamental, is not always fully respected: at times, the marocchino coffee is prepared by pouring the foamed milk in first and then the coffee.


But I'm not a coffee lover....;)
 
So you didn't know...just cheated ;)

Well, at least I'm honest about my cheating...;)
To be frank, the end justifies the means! If there is one thing that I can say no end of negative things about, it's cafes and coffee culture. Out of respect to the forum, I will restrain my response at the moment...;)

But here's an example, and a question :
Below is a photo of a coffee my wife had in Genoa in 2008. She insists that this is a macchiato with milk cream that was whipped/frothed/whatever and added (NOT prepared whipped cream that was added). On our trip last fall to Bologna she tried to request this, but no one knew exactly what you have to call it. When she asked for the obvious - espresso con panna -she says that it wasn't the same.
I will be forever in debt to the person who could name this and relieve me of the never-ending search for exactly the same (and no use, btw, of trying to tell my wife that there is no such thing, and that she is confused...;)).

So this is one of the many things that I don't get about this whole culture, and leaves me quite happy sipping my simple and primitive cup of black tea in the morning, wherever I am in the world : hot water and tea leaves, at home or in an accommodation. NOT in a cafe (or "tea palace").:)


19692
 
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Joe, Italy has many regional differences in all aspects of cuisine and coffee is no exception. Having lived and traveled all over Italy we have learned that if you use what some coffees are named in Napoli in Firenza you will get a blank look from the barista.

That photo certainly looks like an espresso con panna (size/type of cup and panna) but there may be something specific to Genoa's version (or that specific bar) that she remembers.

A caffe macchiato is very different (my morning standard), should be a caffe with a "stain" of frothed milk.

I consider several bariste to be friends and they all agree the quality of the coffee depends on several factors: the machine, the humidity, the coffee grind and the most important factor is the barista.

Italian coffee culture can be confusing but I love the regional differences (also with pasta, wine and digestivi) :coffee: :)
 
Italian coffee culture can be confusing but I love the regional differences (also with pasta, wine and digestivi) :coffee: :)

Hi Bryan - I really enjoy seeing small neighborhood cafes anywhere, and I can certainly appreciate the fact that every locality does things a bit different. That's the spice of life. People who enjoy this, or those that can make a living from it - good for them. The thing with my wife's irreproducible coffee is actually quite funny, imo, and it's just another tile in the mosaic of the travel experience, or another tidbit I can use to tease her with... ;)

What I don't have any liking for is the hype that has developed around coffee culture generally. I could say the same thing about wine. But I'll stop here, as there is no forum category for "philosophy of consumerism", and a debate over this would probably not interest anyone....:)
 

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