Coffee works magic. In fact, with a simple cup, it can accompany us at different times of the day.
It can be the reason for the good company. It can be the company itself. Together with pizza and pasta, it can compete for the symbolic role of Italianness in the world because, thanks to its unique taste, it is able to convey the typical values ??of our country. At the same time, it can take on the value of a traditional and innovative drink because it goes beyond the concept of mocha. Or even espresso. Although its simplicity is proportional to the value it has assumed in social life, drinking coffee no longer consists in its simple consumption. Behind it has a centuries-old tradition.
Origins of coffee: where it was born
Although in Italy there is a large consumption of coffee, it is not his birthplace and the ways of consumption vary from culture to culture. It must be said that our espresso coffee is certainly the most popular in the world! But this was not always the case: at the beginning, about 4 centuries ago, it was not a particularly popular drink in Europe, also because it was seen as a Muslim drink. This, at least until the Arab infusion technique was widespread. Faithful companion of moments of leisure and games, coffee experiences alternating phases of favor, crossing times and places up to the present day,
The rite of coffee from the 1700s to today, in Rome: between tradition and new realities
The first Italian coffee shop was opened in 1683 in Venice in Piazza San Marco and within a century there could be more than two hundred. Some acquired an intellectual connotation - "philosophical cafes" - becoming a meeting place for the best thinkers and philosophers. But soon the coffee fashion spread from Italy to the rest of Europe and the United States. Let's stay in Italy but let's move to Rome, where the history of coffee begins in the 1700s and the drink begins to be served at the tables of places frequented by the Roman upper class to accompany chatter and gossip. This is also the reason why the coffee was offered in the premises present in the central and most populated streets of the city, where they can still be admired today and represent a heritage, an example, but not surprising since it was the first in the city, is the Antico Caffè Greco in Via dei Condotti opened in 1760. Sant'Eustachio (since 1938): “Sant 'Eustachio Il Caffè is an old wood-fired roasting company born in 1938, from a place that already existed in 1800 with the name “Caffè e Latte” in Piazza Sant'Eustachio, a step away from Piazza Navona and the Pantheon. For the time, the room, built-in masonry and with ergonomic shapes, was very innovative! The absence of wooden furniture and the use of white made it extremely modern. "
Coffee books
Coffee, in the course of its life, among the many nuances related to the meaning attributed to the drink is also the protagonist of literature and several writers have dedicated a story to it, these are some books:
Luciano De Crescenzo, The suspended coffee.
Steven Lee Allen, The Devil's Cup.
Carson McCullers, The Ballad of Sad Coffee.
David Liss, The Coffee Merchant.
Patrick Modiano, In the café of lost youth.
Diego Galdino, The first coffee of the morning.
Widad Tamimi, Women's coffee.
Have you read any of them?
If you have any other suggestions, we are here!
See you soon with a new article on coffee in a contemporary way!