European Coffee Has Such a History!

If you drink coffee, you are apt to be one who sighs at the mention of a steamy espresso in a Parisian or Tuscan sidewalk cafe. Yes.... it is usually as delightful as it seems.

The cup, tiny by American standards, often has a whimsical design. Always with a saucer and tiny spoon. A cube of sugar and a square of dark chocolate usually come along with it. Such elegance, such panache, and such flavor!

European espresso is rich and thick. It ripples in the cup when the breeze blows. The aroma can stop the most interesting conversation for a moment. The taste of a good espresso fills the palate and seems to literally waken the senses.

I made a startling find in Peypin d'Aigues early this morning. The vide grenier was just beginning and as I approached a table, a local woman was setting out the things from her kitchen that she wished to sell. There to one side I saw a curious little two-spouted thing. It turned out to be an Italian espresso maker from the 1950s. Made of heavy aluminum, it is meant to sit atop a gas flame which boils the water and sends the steam upward into the filter where the coffee waits, then the fresh rich brew drips down into a heated cup. Sound decadent?   

Surprised as I was to find that adorable little coffee maker, I was stopped dead in my tracks to see the original, vintage Vesuviana maker sitting right next to it! As much as I adore french coffee, Italy truly is the original home of espresso and the espresso maker. And the Vesuviana coffee maker is one of the original Italian machines (designed, apparently, by a machinist rather than a coffee vendor). The principal strategy for making espresso has remained largely unchanged since the mid-late 1800s, but the equipment has kept up with technology, as you surely know.

So to find these early models was a real treat for me. I wasted no time making a deal, nearly paying her asking price, and turning for home with a grin on my face.