How to Make Italian Moka Coffee
Find out how to make coffee like an Italian by using a moka pot. In the first of our brand new video series, Mamma Giuliana will share her indispensable kitchen hints and tips. Wait! Before we start, let’s introduce you to Mamma Giuliana. You remember the Foodie Sisters in Italy, Benedetta and Valeria, don’t you? Well, Mamma Giuliana is their … MOM! An amazing home chef and one of Local Aromas’ chefs, Mamma Giuliana is famous for her kitchen tips and tricks. She has always shared them with family and friends. Now she is sharing them with YOU!
Back to moka coffee now. Nobody does espresso quite like the Italians and if you are craving that same potent caffeine hit that you get in an Italian bar back in the comfort of your own home, the best way to recreate it is with a moka pot. But what is an Italian moka pot? And more importantly, how do you use it?
Before the moka pot was invented over 85 years ago, in Italy, coffee was always consumed outside the home in the fashionable coffee bars of the time. Seeing the potential in giving the average Italian a way to replicate the coffee produced by a large espresso machine but on their own stove-top, Italian engineer Alfonso Bialetti set about devising the perfect portable version. In 1933 he revolutionized the way that the Italians prepared and drank coffee in the home with his ingenious design for the moka pot, which is still produced to this day under the name “Moka Express“. Bialetti combined the use of aluminum with a distinctive eight-sided shape which allowed the machine to conduct heat evenly, passing boiling water through ground coffee. This system was a scaled-down version of the industrial machines and allowed people to produce top-quality espresso coffee in their own kitchens in just a matter of minutes.
Nowadays, despite the introduction of electric coffee machines, most Italian homes still prefer to use their trusty moka pot. The Bialetti design now comes in modern colorful designs and a selection of sizes from one to twelve cups, to suit all needs. And while the Italians still love to grab a caffè at their local bar, the first thing most people do in the morning is to place their moka on the kitchen stove to make the first coffee of the day and fill the home with its delicious aroma.
However, many people are perplexed the first time they come face-to-face with this clever little machine and there is certainly a knack to making sure your coffee comes out perfect every time. So, in the first of her dedicated video series, let Mamma Giuliana show you how to make the perfect espresso using the iconic Bialetti Moka Express.
