Monday, March 30, 2009

Moka Bialetti


Every italian home has at least one moka. This is the iconic Moka Bialetti for the best coffee at home. It's brand new, I bought it just a few days ago because the old one, for mysterious reasons, didn't work well any more.
You know that I love coffee, and coffee making is a little daily rite. I keep the ground coffee in an Illy tin box on the shelf. I put tap water (no higher than the valve - you can see that bolt on the left of the moka base) and a few teaspoons of coffee powder in the filter, until it's topped and then close the machine very tightly. Fire should not be too strong and the flame should never be bigger than the base of the moka. The photo shows the coffee coming out: just a few seconds before I turn off the fire and the foam comes up. 

Do you have a moka at home?
 

19 comments:

lunarossa said...

Divina!!! Certo che ce l'ho e piu' di una. Da due tazze e da quattro tazze...Com'e' possibile vivere senza? Per fortuna anche qui in UK e' possibile trovare il vero caffe' italiano, sia Illy che Lavazza. Ora abbiamo perfino quello decaffinato!!! Buona settimana. Baci. A.

Blogaire said...

I have a Moka at home also. But I only got it last week and did not use it yet. Instead I find an excuse to look for an Italian coffee shop in Dublin, well after all Italian people claim to make the "best a coffee". There is always a discussion about who actually INVENTED coffee - and the jury is still out on that, but Si - the coffee is good!
Last night I met a young Italian couple for the first time and Katia took great pride in making the most amazing espresso... She took a little coffee from the Moka as it started to filter through, and mixing it with sugar, whipped it into a cream to put on top of the espresso.. Amazing!
p.s. I bought my Moka in Espana. Is this a mortal sin?

Rosaria Williams said...

I lost mine in the move. You just reminded me that the coffee made that way was fantastic.

Ming the Merciless said...

Moka is fairly popular in the US too, well in NYC. I have seen them at expensive departmental stores.

I keep telling myself I should get one but I rarely make coffee at home. Maybe I should!

Anonymous said...

hmmmmmmm....I could need a coffee right now!

Fio said...

Yes!!
It's my way to start a day ;-)

Babzy.B said...

Nice shot ! I no longer drink coffee so no moka at home ;)

Julie said...

What a simple but wonderful post. What is that aroma I detect ... could it be ...

Elisa Stocco said...

Quanto sono belle e lucide le caffettiere nuove. Hai colto l'attimo.

Saretta said...

I have four! Each one is worse than the next! I need to throw them all out and get me a classic Bialetti!

Virginia said...

well no I don't and I think I've seen them but had no idea how they worked. I loved reading all about it and now i must rush to the kitchen for a cup of my very bad coffee!
V
PS I would love to sip coffee with you one day!

marieloupe said...

We,in Brazil, use very often moka, 'cause coffee is our national beverage!! I have an Italian one, as a gift of a friend of mine that lived in Italy. Now that you remember it, I ll try to use it again!! Thanks for this beautiful photo and for the remembrance!!

Unknown said...

I also have one! :-)
Great shot too!

lemon said...

Oh, I do have a moka Valeria, and only God knows how much I searched to find how this was called!!
I buy illy coffee and keep the tin in the fridge.
Although it is not as good as a coffee shop's machine coffee, it is nice for the days I don't get out of the house.
With a teaspoon of sugar and quite a lot of (tin) milk.

Eleonora Baldwin said...

I can actually smell the aroma wafting from my monitor. I have 3 mokas: a 1-cupper that's mine and mine alone; a 3-cupper for when I have guests; and my mom's old 15-cupper. Un catafalco di mezzo metro! It still brews awesome espresso, but it feeds on Illy e basta.

Unknown said...

as an invite for a smooth moment !

Hels said...

Hi Valeria,

I absolutely do love using my Moka at home, particularly when spouse and I remember to put a cardamon pod in the top. The vapour fills the house the the two finest smells on earth.

But I want to ask you about private coffee drinking in the home Vs public coffee drinking in a coffee shop.

In "Vienna: Coffee, Art, Pastries" I was making the point about a city's social, political and intellectual life, based around shared coffee.

Would you say there is a difference any longer, depending on whether our cities have a public coffee culture or not?

Hels
a coffee fanatic
Art and Architecture, mainly

Espresso said...

I love coffee !
Super foto.

Ming the Merciless said...

I want one!!!

I have seen them in NYC but not in Bangor.

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