L'Italo-Americano

www.italoamericano.org 10 THURSDAY, JANUARY 27, 2022 L'Italo-Americano I am sure you'd never guessed it. And nei- ther did I, to be hon- e s t , b u t T r i e s t e , beautiful, exotic Tri- este, the most romantically cosmopolite of all Italian cities, the place closest to the East we have ... Trieste is the r e a l b e a t i n g h e a r t o f t h e c o u n t r y ' s l o v e s t o r y w i t h caffè. Coffee arrived, very likely, in Italy in 1570 when physi- c i a n P r o s p e r o A l p i n i returned to Venice after an African trip with his bags full of coffee beans to sell in local pharmacies: Venetians loved it. In fact, it was so good, and it gave so much energy – that caffeine buzz was new to most, back then – that some began to look at it with suspicion. The fact it was a common brew among Muslims didn't help, and soon the Catholic Church, in the figure of Pope Clement VIII, decided to ban it and called it "the Devil's Drink." A p p a r e n t l y , t h o u g h , Clement quickly changed his mind after trying a cup, stat- ing that it was too good to be evil. And so, with the blessing of the Vatican, coffee began its reign in the Belpaese, e s p e c i a l l y i n V e n i c e , Europe's crossroad to the East and notable trendset- ter, and across its Republic. Venetian intellectuals and aristocrats were known to love their coffee, and the drink soon became synonym w i t h h i g h - e n d e n t e r t a i n - ment. Trieste's own love story with kava started around 100 years later, in 1719 when its port was declared tax- free by Austro-Hungarian r e g u l a t i o n s – b a c k t h e n , T r i e s t e w a s p a r t o f t h e Hapsburg Empire – and cof- fee would come from Turkey to supply the whole of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, i n p a r t i c u l a r i t s c a p i t a l , Vienna, Venice's main rival when it came to coffee con- s u m p t i o n . A f e w d e c a d e s l a t e r , E m p r e s s M a r i a Theresa of Austria, made Trieste's fortune when she d e c i d e d t o m a k e i t a c i t y open to all religions: now that may seem normal to you today, but back then, in the uber-catholic Hapsburg Empire, things didn't quite work that way. But if you think Maria Theresa was an e n l i g h t e n e d , l i b e r a l monarch, you'd be mistak- e n : s h e d i d n ' t q u i t e c a r e about non-Catholics, really, b u t e n t r e p r e n e u r s c a m e from all faiths and, consid- ering the economic crisis her empire had undergone the previous years, she needed to do something, and to do it quickly. So, she picked the most commercially-alluring city in the empire, the one with the largest port and the best geographical position, and opened it to people of every religion. This meant two things: the first was that many non-Catholics from other parts of the empire would move to Trieste to enjoy, finally, some free - dom; the second was that entrepreneurs from the East, often likely to be Orthodox or Jewish, would consider T r i e s t e a g o o d p l a c e t o invest. L i t t l e b y l i t t l e , T r i e s t e became a key player not only for the import of coffee to Europe but also for its man- ufacturing, to the point that, since the beginning of the 20th century Trieste – not N a p l e s ! – i s h o m e t o t h e B o r s a d e l C a f f é , t h e international coffee stock exchange. Soon, coffee cul- ture became second nature to the city, with elegant cafés similar to those of Venice and Vienna opening along t h e s i d e s o f i t s b e a u t i f u l piazzas: it is easy to imag- i n e J a m e s J o y c e , w h o made of Trieste his second home after Dublin, hanging in any of these effortlessly chic locations, perhaps writ- ing a page or two while sip- ping on a deep-black brew. With such a background, it is not coincidental, then, t h a t s o m e o f I t a l y ' s m o s t famous coffee brands come from Trieste: Hausbrandt was founded in 1892, while Illy – a name known abroad, too – in 1933. Perhaps less- e r - k n o w n , b u t o f e q u a l l y h i g h q u a l i t y , i s C a f f è Trieste. Along with them, several small artisanal reali- ties are a mirror to the deep connection between the city and coffee, and to the love Triestini have for their kava. Today, Trieste enjoys her l o v e s t o r y w i t h c a f f è i n a very traditional way, giving it lover's nicknames. A regu- lar espresso is known here – but only here, mind, not in the rest of Friuli Venezia- G i u l i a – a s n e r o . I f y o u order a capo, you won't get a cappuccino, as it may hap- pen in other parts of Italy, but rather a caffè macchia- to. But be careful! Because if you order a macchiato, then y o u w o n ' t g e t a r e g u l a r I t a l i a n m a c c h i a t o ( w e l e a r n e d i t ' s a c a p o ) , b u t you'll be asked to choose among a series of variations w h i c h i n c l u d e m a c c h i a t o lungo, gocciato, special and so on. But the real king of T r i e s t e ' s c o f f e e m e n u i s the capo in bi, that is, a capo (a regular macchiato) but served in a glass ("bi" stands f o r b i c c h i e r e , g l a s s i n Italian). A n d s o , j u s t w h e n y o u t h o u g h t y o u k n e w e v e r y - thing about caffè and Italy, you've found out there is always something more to discover… Now, let's prac- tice Trieste's coffee slang together: who wants a nero and a nice slice of cake? FRANCESCA BEZZONE That's a big caffettiera! It must come from Trieste, Italy's real capital of coffee (Photo: Giuseppe Esposito/Dreamstime) Trieste, the secret capital of Italian coffee A sunny day in Trieste: perfect to have a coffee al fresco (Photo: Vbaleha/Dreamstime) ALL AROUND ITALY TRAVEL TIPS DESTINATIONS ACTIVITIES

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