A typical cappuccino with foam.
Cappuccino is a large Italian beverage prepared with espresso and foamy steamed milk. A cappuccino differs from a caffe latte, which is mostly milk and little foam.
In Italy, cappuccino is generally consumed early in the day as part of a light breakfast, with croissant, better known for Italians as cornetto. Generally Italians do not drink cappuccino with meals other than breakfast; however, it is a very common habit, in Italy, to have a cappuccino and croissant after a night out, even if it is about time to go to bed. In other countries it is consumed throughout the day or after dinner.
Besides a quality shot of espresso, the most important element in preparing a cappuccino is the texture and temperature of the milk. When a barista steams the milk for a cappuccino, he or she creates microfoam by introducing very tiny bubbles of air into the milk, giving the milk a velvety texture and sweetness. In some places, skilled baristas create latte art when pouring properly steamed milk into the espresso, making designs such as apples, hearts, leaves, rosettes, and corporate logos.
A cappuccino is generally defined as 1/3 espresso, 1/3 steamed milk and 1/3 frothed milk. Another definition would call for 1/3 espresso and 2/3 microfoam. (A "dry cappuccino" has less milk.) The "iced cappuccino" (or cappuccino "Freddo") beverage is somewhat of a misnomer since there is no way to duplicate the foam on top of the hot beverage, but the term is nevertheless widely spread in some Mediterranean countries where ice is added before the foam. Espresso and cold milk on ice is called an iced caffelatte, while an espresso macchiato is a shot of espresso "stained" with a dollop of milk foam.
A cappuccino is ideally prepared in a ceramic coffee cup, which has far better heat retention characteristics than glass or paper.
Cappuccino was a taste largely confined to Europe and the more cosmopolitan regions of North America, until the mid-1990s when cappuccino was made much more widely available to North Americans, as part of the new upscale coffee bar chains with a consciously created "European" ambience (such as Starbucks). At America's largest coffee chain, Starbucks, a cappucino has only about ⅛ 1/8(as opposed to the traditional ⅓ 1/3) unless extra shots are ordered.
By the first years of the 21st century a modified version of cappuccino was being served by the McDonald's fast-food chain. Tim Hortons, a large Canadian coffee and doughnut chain, began serving cappuccino in the 1990s, but achieved greater success with flavoured cappuccino and, more notably, iced cappuccino. Upon her release from prison, Karla Homolka was asked what the first thing was she planned to do once leaving prison: "This is stupid. I'd like to have an iced cappuccino. An iced cappuccino from Tim Hortons, that's what I'd like to do." [1]
The widespread acceptance in the U.S. of what was once regarded as a taste of coastal urbanites and older Italian-Americans led to many establishments, such as convenience stores offering what they represent as cappuccino to their patrons. However, that product is usually an ersatz cappuccino produced by machines similar to those that mix cocoa drinks where all the buyer need do is touch a button and position the cup properly. The drink that comes out is usually produced either from a preproduced mix or double-brewed coffee and bears little relation to the real thing.
Similar products result from home use of store-bought mixes usually advertised, more accurately, as producing "frothed coffee."
Origins
The origin of the name is in the brown hooded robes worn by the Capuchin order of Franciscan friars. In France at the beginning of the 18th century a new fashion arose in Paris (though not at Versailles) for carved wall-panelling boiseries that were left in their natural color (almost invariably oak) rather than being painted and gilded as in the previous century. The new mode, which coincided with the height of the controversy over Jansenisme that was dividing the tout Paris in stylish religious pamphleteering, was wittily termed à la capucine in reference to the brown color of the robes worn by Franciscan friars. This color-coded etymology is followed by the Oxford English Dictionary and the American Heritage Dictionary. The order of Capuchins was, in turn, named for the capucize (cappuccio), or long pointed cowl, worn by the friars.
Devotees of the Blessed Marco d'Aviano offer a (likely apocryphal) twist on the origin of the term. According to this legend, Marco d'Aviano, the Capuchin friar and confidant of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor, added milk and honey to sweeten the bitter coffee beans left by fleeing Ottoman Turkish army after the Battle of Vienna (1683). A similar legend, with slightly more credibility is told about the origin of the first Viennese cafe by Franciszek Jerzy Kulczycki.
See also
- Coffee
- Caffè
- Espresso
- Flat white
- MooLatte
- Capputeano
External links
- Foaming techniques, FAQs on cappuccino and espresso
- The Barista Extraordinaire's Coffee Blog
- Cappuccino & milkshakes supplier for mobile vendors
Categories: Coffee | Coffee preparation
