Dubai Telegraph - Italy woos UNESCO with 'magical' espresso coffee rite

EUR -
AED 3.879921
AFN 70.774705
ALL 97.658441
AMD 409.488241
ANG 1.905213
AOA 963.376768
ARS 1054.320885
AUD 1.627536
AWG 1.901401
AZN 1.801486
BAM 1.943481
BBD 2.134372
BDT 126.319293
BGN 1.9558
BHD 0.398119
BIF 3061.256379
BMD 1.056334
BND 1.412811
BOB 7.304697
BRL 6.133815
BSD 1.057139
BTN 89.15023
BWP 14.343757
BYN 3.459372
BYR 20704.14942
BZD 2.130774
CAD 1.478319
CDF 3026.39715
CHF 0.935785
CLF 0.037514
CLP 1035.112444
CNY 7.631383
CNH 7.652882
COP 4731.320676
CRC 539.798787
CUC 1.056334
CUP 27.992855
CVE 110.756993
CZK 25.285045
DJF 187.73139
DKK 7.458754
DOP 63.776161
DZD 141.547711
EGP 52.10252
ERN 15.845012
ETB 128.925753
FJD 2.399199
FKP 0.831283
GBP 0.831356
GEL 2.884081
GGP 0.831283
GHS 17.012698
GIP 0.831283
GMD 74.999517
GNF 9116.163919
GTQ 8.168224
GYD 221.158132
HKD 8.219706
HNL 26.472039
HRK 7.535367
HTG 138.99552
HUF 407.89813
IDR 16738.565373
ILS 3.965716
IMP 0.831283
INR 89.179585
IQD 1384.325909
IRR 44463.742746
ISK 147.284729
JEP 0.831283
JMD 167.357086
JOD 0.749047
JPY 164.334965
KES 136.790508
KGS 91.061436
KHR 4278.153377
KMF 492.621303
KPW 950.700505
KRW 1481.899804
KWD 0.324971
KYD 0.880916
KZT 521.017397
LAK 23181.253406
LBP 94594.723681
LKR 308.961568
LRD 194.36531
LSL 19.278261
LTL 3.11908
LVL 0.638966
LYD 5.144042
MAD 10.518957
MDL 19.048258
MGA 4917.235703
MKD 61.531456
MMK 3430.932127
MNT 3589.423527
MOP 8.469315
MRU 42.121293
MUR 49.531301
MVR 16.320345
MWK 1833.795702
MXN 21.69129
MYR 4.711444
MZN 67.498546
NAD 19.277515
NGN 1771.95785
NIO 38.851914
NOK 11.767666
NPR 142.642227
NZD 1.796592
OMR 0.406667
PAB 1.057099
PEN 4.016129
PGK 4.156411
PHP 62.152628
PKR 293.713639
PLN 4.341243
PYG 8250.095155
QAR 3.845638
RON 4.975967
RSD 116.975311
RUB 104.047459
RWF 1441.89612
SAR 3.969228
SBD 8.855836
SCR 14.40717
SDG 635.387436
SEK 11.603515
SGD 1.418836
SHP 0.831283
SLE 24.100276
SLL 22150.800682
SOS 603.695541
SRD 37.267363
STD 21863.98426
SVC 9.24937
SYP 2654.071001
SZL 19.278362
THB 36.91096
TJS 11.263007
TMT 3.707733
TND 3.32481
TOP 2.474044
TRY 36.2854
TTD 7.183466
TWD 34.278574
TZS 2809.848602
UAH 43.672836
UGX 3879.409365
USD 1.056334
UYU 44.567497
UZS 13547.485199
VES 47.531547
VND 26772.789136
VUV 125.410144
WST 2.954552
XAF 651.855898
XAG 0.034887
XAU 0.000411
XCD 2.854796
XDR 0.796378
XOF 651.239726
XPF 119.331742
YER 263.875515
ZAR 19.259818
ZMK 9508.281216
ZMW 28.91707
ZWL 340.139167
  • RBGPF

    -0.8500

    59.34

    -1.43%

  • CMSC

    0.0700

    24.61

    +0.28%

  • CMSD

    -0.0200

    24.73

    -0.08%

  • SCS

    -0.3000

    13.37

    -2.24%

  • NGG

    -0.7800

    62.12

    -1.26%

  • AZN

    0.1000

    65.29

    +0.15%

  • RIO

    -0.5800

    60.62

    -0.96%

  • GSK

    -0.4100

    35.11

    -1.17%

  • RELX

    -0.4700

    46.12

    -1.02%

  • BP

    0.4100

    28.57

    +1.44%

  • BTI

    0.1800

    35.42

    +0.51%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0500

    7.11

    -0.7%

  • BCC

    1.4200

    142.55

    +1%

  • JRI

    0.0200

    13.24

    +0.15%

  • BCE

    -0.4800

    27.21

    -1.76%

  • VOD

    0.2800

    8.75

    +3.2%

Italy woos UNESCO with 'magical' espresso coffee rite
Italy woos UNESCO with 'magical' espresso coffee rite

Italy woos UNESCO with 'magical' espresso coffee rite

A shot of dark, velvety coffee is more than just a quick caffeine hit: Italy's espresso is a prized social and cultural ritual the country considers a national heritage worthy of UNESCO status.

Text size:

Italians knock back some 30 million espressos a day, from Venice to Sicily, in porcelain cups or little glasses, with or without a splash of milk -- and see each one as a gesture of friendship.

"The espresso is an excuse to tell a friend you care," says Massimiliano Rosati, owner of the Gambrinus cafe in Naples, which helped prepare the bid for a place on the UN's list of the world's intangible heritage.

"They are drunk every day, at any hour. It's a shared moment, a magical moment," he told AFP.

The gleaming machine behind the marble counter clanks and hisses as the barista tamps the ground coffee into the portafilter, clicks it into place and flicks a switch to shoot near-boiling water through it.

- 'Flowers, fruits, chocolate' -

To be the real deal, the espresso has to have a "round, substantial and velvety" taste and "hazel-brown to dark-brown foam, characterised by tawny reflexes", according to the Italian Espresso Institute.

It must have a long-lasting aroma which has "notes of flowers, fruits, toasted bread and chocolate", says the institute, set up in 1998 to safeguard espresso.

The bid for heritage status has been sent by the agricultural ministry to Italy's national UNESCO commission, which must submit it to the UN body's headquarters in Paris by March 31.

Italy already boasts a series of living traditions and customs on the list, from truffle hunting to the art of the Neapolitan pizza maker, the Mediterranean diet and traditional violin craftsmanship in Cremona, the birthplace of Antonio Stradivari.

Drinking an espresso "is a rite, it's a bit sacred", said retired teacher Annamaria Conte, 70, as she walked into Gambrinus from the vast Piazza del Plebiscito square near the seafront in Naples.

Some like cream puffs, little pizzas or fried dough balls with their espressos, chatting between bites.

"When I go abroad, I see people queuing up for their coffees, standing in a line one behind the other, maybe on their iPhones, sitting in a corner with a book. That's not what it’s like here," owner Rosati said.

"There's a custom still alive today in some parts of Naples where, when you visit someone, you don't take a cake or flowers, you bring sugar and coffee."

- Memories -

It was Angelo Moriondo from Turin who in 1884 patented the first steam machine for espresso, but it was Desiderio Pavoni in Milan who had the funds to develop and mass produce the large industrial machines.

They would become ubiquitous across Italy, with each of the country's 20 regions making espressos slightly differently -- shorter, longer, more or less intense, possibly with sparkling water on the side.

"I've a lot of memories growing up of coming here, drinking the coffee, and it's really good," said tourist Yael Lesin-Davis, 28, as she tucked into a "Moretto" espresso, with frothed milk and cocoa powder.

Raimondo Ricci, owner of the Sant'Eustachio caffe in Rome's historic centre, says the humble espresso has the power to keep loneliness at bay, even when drunk alone, far from the cafe.

"Sometimes at home we make a coffee and we're kept company by this machine which fills a room, fills a house," he said.

The aroma, he said, sparks "memories of happy times".

B.Krishnan--DT