A hot espresso macchiato, an espresso with cold milk on the side, an espresso in a hot cup with cold milk poured in (this one remains a mystery), an espresso macchiato with soy milk (hot or cold), a cold espresso, a long espresso, a short espresso, an espresso in a glass, a foamed espresso, an espresso corretto (with liquor), a ginseng espresso... In Italy, the variations are infinite when asking for an espresso (simply “un caffé” in Italian) at a bar or restaurant. Italians’ imagination is boundless when it comes to coffee.
Then there are those who prefer to make and drink it at home
Many use pods today, which offer the pleasure of drinking an espresso as if you were at a café, but espresso made with the moka is a longstanding tradition. And moka is essential for making the creamy espresso sweetener that you’ll often find on the counters and tables at cafés in Southern Italy.
Espresso cremina: the recipe
This is definitely a classic tradition in and around Naples and Salerno, where even the bartender preparing an espresso adds the cream to his preparations. In the rest of Italy, however, it’s much more of a family ritual. So here’s the secret for making it really special.
Difficulty: very easy
Preparation time: 2 minutes (just for the cream)
Ingredients for 3 espressos
6 teaspoons of sugar (the teaspoons of sugar should be double the number of espressos the moka makes, so a 6-espresso moka = 12 teaspoons of sugar, and so on)
a few drops of espresso
Directions
Put the sugar in a small bowl. Prepare the moka as usual and put it on the stove. As soon as the coffee starts to rise, remove the moka from the heat and pour the first drops of coffee (which are the creamiest and have the most intense flavor) in the bowl with the sugar. Put the moka back on the stove over low heat. Use circular movements to mix the sugar and espresso with a teaspoon until a sufficiently thick cream forms. The harder you beat the mixture, the creamier it will be. Finally put a teaspoon full of the cream into each cup and then pour the espresso over it.