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Italian · VI The Beverage Tradition

Moka

Piemonte (Omegna, Lago d'Orta), diffused throughout Italy

‹ The Beverage Tradition

I

Origin

The moka is the octagonal aluminium stovetop coffee pot of the Italian household, patented in 1933 by Alfonso Bialetti at Omegna in Piedmont and made there thereafter. It belongs to the domestic coffee tradition of the peninsula, where the morning cup is made at home on the hob rather than taken at the bar.

II

Description

The moka is a three-part pot: a lower boiler that holds the water, a funnel-shaped metal basket that holds the ground coffee, and an upper collecting chamber with a spout and lid. The coffee used is ground of Coffea arabica, often blended with Coffea canephora (robusta), ground to a medium-fine texture, finer than for a filter and coarser than for espresso. Water heated in the boiler is forced by steam pressure up through the basket and into the upper chamber, giving a small, dense, aromatic brew. It is stronger than filtered coffee yet lacks the crema of a true espresso, since the pressure is far lower.

III

The Thread

—Both are domestic methods that extract ground coffee in a simple vessel without a machine, giving the cook direct control over dose and timing. The cafetière steeps coarse grounds in hot water and presses them away, whereas the moka drives near-boiling water upward through a packed bed under steam pressure. French
—Both make a small, strong coffee from very hot water and finely ground beans, heated over a direct flame in a purpose-made pot. The Turkish cezve boils the powder in the liquid and serves it with the grounds, while the moka separates the grounds in a basket and delivers a clear brew. Turkish
—Both belong to the home hob, where coffee is brewed in a humble pot rather than at a counter. Café de olla simmers coarse coffee in an earthenware pot with cinnamon and piloncillo, whereas the moka is a pressure device that makes plain, concentrated coffee. Mexican
IV

Flavour Context

Moka coffee is taken in the morning with hot milk, as caffè e latte, or alone and sweetened at the end of the meal. It accompanies biscuits, fette biscottate with jam, and simple breakfast cakes, whose sweetness and fat soften the coffee's bitterness. Taken after a meal, its heat, bitterness and concentration cut through the richness of the preceding dishes and cleanse the palate.

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