a desire for conviviality in melbourne

Five essential coffee words not to be without in Melbourne, Australia

Without doubt your coffee savoir-faire will benefit from knowing that coffee was brought to Melbourne with the wave of migration from Europe to Australia last century, which saw amongst others the arrival of people from Italy. The origins of coffee culture which is dominating Melbournian trends can be traced to that time. It was part of the ways of the people from Italy. It's difficult, however, to trace a clear line since the difference in the culture of coffee between then and now is marked. I've had the privilege to see how coffee is part of the lifestyle in Italy and I've experienced the way coffee is consumed in Melbourne. I've collected my observations in a few essential words. 

latte: in Italian latte means milk, and caffelatte 

means milk with coffee, hence the Melbournian "latte" ordered in cafes and served in a glass with a millimetre of froth is milk with coffee 

in Italy caffelatte is what you make at home upon waking. A caffelatte is warm milk with coffee usually drunk from a bowl, especially if having it with biscuits or chunks of bread. For punch, I've seen an egg being whisked and carefully blended in. In a cafè or bar, latte macchiato, which is milk with a shot of coffee, is what you'll order if you're in the mood for a homely caffelatte, and it's usually served in a tall glass with a long teaspoon. A caffè macchiato, instead, is an espresso coffee with warm, frothy milk added, making it a mini cappuccino.

in Melbourne milk with coffee is the preferred way to drink coffee. Melbourne's signature drink "latte" resembles a caffelatte in that milk and coffee are combined. However, the Melbourne "latte" has extra froth at the top and often comes decorated with a pattern, hence, the latte served with milk in a glass is a Melbourne invention.

capuccino: is coffee in a cup

in Italy a cappuccino is ordered in a cafe or bar up to about ten in the morning. A cappuccino is different to caffelatte since it comes in a cup and saucer, in the same way that tea is served. Ordering a cappuccino in a cafè is like having breakfast out of home and so often it's delectable to dunk a brioche in it (known as cornetto in Sicily, brioche in other parts of Italy and croissant in France). These days a cappuccino is almost always decorated with a pattern, though most often it is sprinkled with cocoa. Arriving early in the morning in Milan in the late nineties and entering a cafè bar in the centre of the city, I first admired the pattern the barman made in the froth of the cappucino I had ordered. The mingling of the dark brown of the coffee and the white of the milk resembled the oriental yin and yang symbol.

in Melbourne  my mother, a coffee lover, has cappuccino when she has coffee in a cafè. Despite having lived fifty years in the city she adopted as her home, she has never entertained the idea of the Melbournian "latte."

caffè espressso: this is coffee 

in Italy the best coffee has three ingredients: the skill of the barista, the cleanliness of the machine and the quality of the water. Un caffè is what you share with your: colleague, friend, relative, acquaintance and the list goes on. Actually there is no end to it, especially when the hairdresser will offer you one as a matter of course. And, best of all, you can have a coffee all on your own. You can stand at the bench, you can sit at a table, you can linger near the door for as short or as long as you like. You can ask for un caffè ristretto  which is extra concentrated coffee. Once I was told that the best way to drink coffee is within thirty seconds of it being served — it helps to find yourself at the bench, in this way savouring the the full coffee aroma. In Sicily, a small glass of water will always be served with coffee. You drink the water before you throw down the coffee. Just like Turkey or Greece, which have a tradition of coffee making, In Italy coffee is coffee.

in Melbourne on the rare occasion I've ordered a short black, I haven't been able to drink it. I've heard of a version known as magic which is meant to be extra strong coffee, and perhaps takes you close to the full coffee flavour of an espresso.

caffè d'orzo: this is a coffee alternative

in Italy When I'm in the Tuscan city of Prato, I like to go to Caffè Zero, where I'll order caffè d'orzo as  as a coffee alternative. "Would you like that with scorza d'arancio (orange peel)?" is the question I'm asked. The answer is yes! The orange peel infuses the barley coffee with sweetness as the essential oils in the peel release upwards with the heat of the coffee. I'll drink caffè dorzo like an espresso coffee, there are machines programmed just for that. A caffè d'orzo can be short or lungo, the latter filling a cappuccino cup three quarters full. When avoiding caffeine or ordering for a child it's a welcome alternative.

in Melbourne Cafès are not equipped for caffè dorzo, as the drink is unheard of. However, on occasion you can find dandelion coffee made from soluble granules. What a treat when you do.

socialising: prendiamoci un caffè

in Italy whether it's coffee made with an Alessi coffee maker at home (i.e. my kitchen) or an espresso at the cafè bar, coffee is about sharing. Even though a thought or two is shared in conversation, the chatter is meted by the silence of a sip, and worldly cares take their place. Also, a coffee at the cafè bar usually costs little over a dollar. 

in Melbourne Once it was a treat to be invited into a home to share a cup of tea. Friends  gathered around a kitchen table to drink a cup together, with milk on the side to add as a dash. Today cafès are wonderful places to meet, but there is little care about how tea is made, coffee is coffee milk, there is often the expectation to order food (why would you drink milk before eating!!), and the cost of the coffee or tea is hardly friendly..... Yet, I have to say that in a country that lacks social gathering places, like the squares of European cities, the markets and the ways of a town or small city where you would go about on foot, the Melbourne cafès mete that space left empty by suburban isolation: they express a desire for conviviality.

Silvana Tuccio, Melbourne, October 2017 

tea and biscuits in a cafe in catania, sicily december 2016