Omnivore Atlanta

Here’s an interesting piece of food anthropology: When the majority of Italians migrated to the U.S., it was before the popularity of espresso. The espresso machine was invented in 1901, but the mass-produced, hot water model used today wasn’t made until 1948; the surge of Italian immigration to the U.S. took part mainly between 1880 and 1914. Post-war Italian immigration was largely diverted to Australia, and after 1948 many Italian immigrants brought a taste for espresso, and some brought their espresso machines with them. As a result, Australia has a thriving and authentic cafe culture dating back to the early 1950’s.

All this is to say, I grew up with really good coffee. Specifically, I developed a taste for cappuccino early in life, spoonfuls of foam scooped surreptitiously from my father’s cup when he wasn’t vigilant enough. When I was 8, I spent all year saving my allowance to buy my dad a “cappuccino machine” for Christmas. The resulting milk frother was well received, but I immediately recognized the difference between what we got on tiny tables outside street cafes in Melbourne and the coffee-with-a-bunch-of-steamed-milk-on-top we were able to make at home with my first large consumer purchase. One was cappuccino. The other was not.

I bemoaned the lack of decent cappuccino from the second I set foot on American soil. I had hope when the coffee revolution swept the nation, but didn’t expect immediate results. But folks, it’s been more than 10 years since we got a decent cafe culture in the U.S., closer to 15 depending on which coast you’re on and in which state, and there’s still no such thing as good cappuccino in 99 percent of the cafes in this country. (more…)

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I start every day by making a latte. Because I’m lactose-intolerant, I make the foam with Lactaid, a brand of milk in which the lactose is broken down to make it more digestible by peeps like me.

For about two months, I’ve been unable to produce the appropriately thick micro-foam with my machine, an Estro-Profi. Instead I end up with large-bubble foam that quickly dissolves into my espresso, turning my drink into a cafe au lait.

I began to think that my machine had literally run out of steam but decided to try foaming some low-fat regular milk. Hurrah! I got the perfect topping for my latte.

This almost certainly means that the Lactaid is getting frozen somewhere in the production and delivery line. I’ve run into the problem a few times in years past, but, now, every container of the milk I buy from Publix is lousy for frothing.

I’ve emailed Lactaid’s producer, but have yet to hear back. Please, I don’t want to drink soy milk.

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LAVAZZA UPDATE: Our espresso nightmare is over. Whole Foods on Ponce de Leon is stocking Lavazza’s Qualita Oro again, but you really are not going to find any of the Italian company’s blends of robusta and arabica beans. I received this e-mail of explanation from Darrah Horgan of Whole Foods’ PR team:

“Whole Foods Market has specific quality standards for everything we carry, and our coffee is no different. We will continue to carry other Lavazza coffees, just not the ones containing the robusta beans. As our coffee coordinator explains it, arabica species is widely accepted as the best bean, and yields the best fruit.

Robusta beans are seen as an inferior bean, often used to mask certain flavors in other coffees. The bean is typically more harsh and bitter, and there is little accountability for the quality and source of these beans. It is grown predominantly in Vietnam, is often used for ground cover because it grows much like a weed, and is over-harvested, which, as I’m sure you know, is terrible for the land.

The robusta does generate more of a crema, or frothiness, produced in brewing, but our brand, Allegro, blends different types of Arabica beans to achieve this same quality crema.”

OK, well, far be it from me to recommend that anyone drink coffee that is like fruit of the kudzu vine. I wonder if Mrs. Olson (pictured above) knew her robusta-tainted Folgers was contributing to erosion in Vietnam. I’m just glad I can resume buying my coffee in the same place I feel guilty when I ask for plastic bags.

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I never thought of myself as a brand loyalist, but when I stopped at Whole Foods on Ponce de Leon Avenue to buy the espresso I use every morning and found they were no longer selling it, I went nuts.

The espresso is Lavazza, which is almost half the cost of $14 Illy, but whose flavor I prefer. I’m not going to try to find all the right adjectives to describe the Italian import’s viscosity, its sunlit crema, its sweetness that is never cloying, its faint bitterness, its almost-floral aroma, its full-bodied but smooth flavor that never turns too intense nor too flat, its capacity to convince me to go on living every morning, its …

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