Kiwisizzler

I’m a coffee snob. There, I said it! Nothing wrong with that is there?!

Aluminium Bialetti 8 Cup

I consider myself extremely lucky to be a coffee snob. It means I’m a bona fide Wellingtonian, coming from a city that has more cafes per capita than most cities in the world. To succeed as a cafe proprietor in my home city you MUST make exceptional coffee or you’ll be swallowed up by the competition. One particular cafe that had the earliest influences on me was Caffe Mode, up in Kelburn Village. The cafe latte that Craig Walden gave me on my first day began a voyage of discovery revolving around a beverage that becomes more intricate and refined as each new  experience layers upon another.

Do you have a top of the line espresso machine in your kitchen? You do? Lucky bugger! Can I come to your house for coffee??! Unfortunately for the rest of us, we have to make do with the classic Italian way which is why I’m going to focus on the most common and simplest way to make coffee at home, with a stovetop espresso pot.

In order to make a great coffee we need to bring together several simple but important components. Firstly, we must use the best beans we can lay our hands on. As to where the beans come from, this is secondary and we don’t need to be a coffee guru to source quality ones. Buying coffee beans is opposite to the traits of making a decent scotch whisky. Rather than being about single origins, it is the skill of the roaster that captures the best of the beans by blending to create a harmonious result. I suggest buying your beans from a cafe that makes fantastic coffee to begin with. They will usually have freshly roasted beans available to take home and if they roast their own beans, such as London’s Monmouth or Bullet Cafe, or Wellington’s L’Affare or Mojo, you can be guaranteed freshly roasted beans. When I catered for a Wellington law firm I sourced beans from Mojo, who guaranteed them to be roasted within the past 24 hours. Super fresh! Beans for home brewing don’t have to be this fresh but make sure they are no more than 1 week from roasting and that they have been stored in a sealed environment, ideally vacuum-packed or in one of those bags with a one way valve to release any excess gases. When storing the beans at home, there are varied schools of thought – freezer, fridge or simply in an airtight container. Personally I see no problem in leaving them in an airtight container at room temperature as there are other factors in extracting your coffee that will play a greater influence on the quality. As long as you only buy small quantities regularly (250g as a guide) you should get through it fast enough to not lose much quality.

Stainless Steel Pot

The next step to making a decent cup is getting the grind right. In this department you have three main options: the trusty (and inexpensive) blade grinder which can also be used for grinding dry spices, a flat burr grinder and a conical burr grinder; check out Buyer’s Guide to Coffee Grinders for more info on the different grinders. I, like most people who make coffee at home on a purely casual basis, am only using a blade grinder and find this suffices though given the option, I would easily opt for a conical step-less burr grinder which gives infinite control over the grain texture and superb consistency. When it comes to obtaining the best grain for an espresso, we are looking for a texture finer than caster sugar but not as fine as a powder. If you are using a blade grinder it is best to start by grinding a little on the coarse side and then giving it a few short blasts until you reach the right grind. If the grind is too coarse, the coffee will be weak and washy as the water will pass through it too fast. Too fine and the water will struggle to find its way through and will ‘drill’ minute holes through the beans, resulting in a bitter coffee. Practice makes perfect!

The Dose

Next comes the dose. Put enough cold water in the bottom of your pot to give you the amount and strength of espresso you desire. Less water means a stronger brew, more means weaker. There will be a valve in the side of the water chamber which is used to release the steam pressure if you have too much or too fine coffee in the basket. Under no circumstances should you fill above the valve or you may get boiling water squirting out the side! There needs to be enough ground coffee in the basket to give the coffee strength but not so much that the water can’t get through evenly. When using a stovetop pot, there is no need to ‘tamp’ or press the coffee into the basket. Simply spoon your beans into the basket until they form a slight hump above the lip. Run your finger around the edge of the lip and make sure there aren’t any grains that could compromise the seal. When you screw the top on tightly, this will press the coffee into the basket.

Disassembled - Base, Basket and Jug

Set your pot on a medium flame and close the lid. It will take a minute or so to get going as the water heats and the pressure builds up under the basket. Once the coffee is flowing, listen for a gurgling sound. That will indicate that your espresso is about done.

If you like an espresso, great. Enjoy your brew. If you like a cafe latte or cappuccino, here’s how to get frothed milk without a steamer. Heat your milk in a saucepan or microwave. Don’t bring it to the boil – it wants to be 55-60 deg C. You should nearly be able to hold your finger in it, but not quite. Heat a metal coffee plunger under running hot water (you can use a glass one if you are careful but metal is easier) and dry. Transfer your hot milk to the plunger and plunge repeatedly to get your bubbles. This can take anywhere from 10-40 plunges, depending on the milk. Remove the lid and sharply tap the plunger several times on a firm bench to knock the air out of the large bubbles. We are looking for a silky, creamy texture. Give the jug a quick swirl to even out the consistency and gently pour over your freshly brewed espresso. Perfecto!

Tips

- Water is an important component of a good coffee. When speaking to a master barista in Naples (and the pizza guys there will say the same thing about their pizza doughs) we were told how the coffee in Naples is revered because of the minerals in their volcanic region’s water. We prefer to use bottled water rather than ‘London Tap’ which is high in lime.

- Don’t use hot water. It will get too hot in the pot before enough pressure is obtained to force it through the grounds resulting in burnt, bitter coffee.

- I prefer to use semi-skimmed organic milk. Organic milk is proven to have more nutrients than regular milk and semi-skimmed won’t bloat you as much as full fat milk will (and it’s better for the waist-line!). The time of year can also influence the quality of milk, depending on what the cows have been feeding on.

- If buying a top-of-the-range machine, do your research. Check out Caffe Italia for all you need to know about coffee machines.

- When it comes to stovetop pots, there is no need to spend a fortune. We’ve bought several lovely stainless steel coffee pots over the years with the mindset that since they cost more they must be better. The chef school of thought also teaches that since aluminium reacts with acidic substances such as wine, vinegar and lemon juice and, as coffee is acidic, why would I want traces of aluminium in my coffee? My favourite pot is an aluminium Bialetti 8 cup. It performs more consistently than the steel ones – my theory is that it expands more than steel, creating a better seal. It makes too much for me alone but for a group of afficianados it is great!

While the concept of a layered cake is nothing new, Tiramisu in its current form may well be. One common theory of its origin is that it comes from 1600′s Siena, where it was made to honour Grand Duke Cosimo III De’Medici, but historical cookbooks from the time don’t mention it and it is also not mentioned in several more recent gastronomique works of note, including La Scienza in Cucina (published in 1891), Il Talisamno della Felicità (published in 1929) or La Mia Cucina, a comprehensive 10-volume set published in 1978.

Although the origins of tiramisu appeared in the 1600′s as the precursor to English trifle, using a custard cream instead of the more modern marscapone, the earliest mention of tiramisu in its current name and form reputedly date back to only 1971, when it was created by the restaurant Le Beccherie in the city of Treviso, Italy.

When I first learned to make tiramisu, I was taught to use savoiardi or lady finger biscuits, Kahlua or rum, instant coffee and marscapone with beaten eggs and sugar. While these are among the most common ingredients used, I have been fortunate to have been re-educated on a recent trip to Italy by an Italian friend from the small mediaeval village of Vicopisano, in the heart of Toscana. The recipe in question uses pavesini biscuits which are much thinner and crunchier than the traditional savioardi biscuits. They soften nicely once the cake is assembled and, as they are so thin, allow you to get around 5 layers in a 7-8cm deep dish, giving the cake more integrity and structure. It has also been suggested by some that the alcohol is not traditional, instead using only strong espresso to dip the biscuits into. The version I would like to share with you also includes the delicious touch of grated dark (71% cocoa) chocolate between each layer. Simple. Delicious. Will make you popular! ENJOY!!!

Tiramisu – by Massimo Lenzi

500g marscapone
5 Tbsp sugar
5 eggs
Pavesini biscuits
Dark chocolate
Cocoa powder

Whisk the yolks with the sugar until pale.
Fold in the marscapone.
Whisk the whites to soft peaks.
Fold the whites gently into the yolks and marscapone.

Dip the pavesini into espresso for 1 second each.

Layer with the marscapone and grated dark chocolate.

Dust with cocoa powder or more grated chocolate.

Originally a staple of the Roman Legions, ‘biscotti’ is the Italian word for ‘biscuits’, being the plural of ‘biscotto’, ‘bis’ meaning ‘twice’ and ‘cotto’ meaning baked. It was important to bake the biscuits twice to ensure they would last a long time when the armies were away at war. The most common version of biscotti served today is based on ‘cantucci’, which is often served with a glass of vin santo, a sweet dessert wine. Perfect after a simple dinner digested with a view over the plains of Toscana!

In Australasia and increasingly in the UK, it is very common to find long chunks of nutty biscotti at good cafes. They are a delicious textural match to a well-made coffee and are great if they’re a little on the hard side so they can handle being dunked. Even better, make them with chunks of chocolate, which melt slightly when stirred into the coffee!

Anyway, here’s my basic recipe for almond biscotti. Think about what flavours you have in the cupboard and adapt as you like. Try using other nuts such as pistachios or hazelnuts, chocolate, dried fruit (cranberries and white chocolate is a personal favourite!), more or less citrus flavour, spices such as star anise or fennel seeds – the list goes on…

Almond Biscotti

3 1/2 C flour
2 tsp baking powder
90g butter
1 C sugar
3 eggs
1 egg white
zest of 1 orange
1/4 C chopped roasted almonds

1. Sieve flour and baking powder.
2. Cream butter and sugar
3. Add 1. to 2..
4. Beat eggs. Fold into 3).
5. Add zest and nuts.
6. Roll into logs.
7. Bake at 160 C.
8. Cool.
9. Slice and arrange on an oven rack or tray.
10. Dry in a warm oven (around 130°C) for around 10 minutes

Sliced and ready dry

The baked log - flatten before baking!

I am not a coffee connoisseur, but I do appreciate a seriously good cup. With a long career in hospitality, a mother who owned and ran a successful Wellington café, a wife who used to brew over 600 coffees daily, and brother who was a top barista, I’ve managed to learn a bit about the subject.

I was spoilt for choice in Wellington, so my initial experience of coffee in London was, to say the least, dismal. While I’m sure that the big chains—Starbucks, Nero’s, Pret a Manger and Costa—once made a consistently good coffee, it seems that the bigger a business gets, the poorer the standard becomes.

There are several reasons for this. When a business begins its life it is usually headed by someone who is in that business because of their experience and passion. As a business grows, it becomes more likely that the skills and passion become diluted. At what point this dilution becomes the norm depends on whether the management at each site is employing the right people, training them, and constantly checking and re-checking. This can be difficult as the bigger a company becomes, the more pressure there is to keep the labour costs low, resulting in the need to employ unskilled and passion-lacking workers. The café industry notoriously pays minimum wages, and, in the UK, has a high staff turnover—something around 75% per year. As a result, it seems to mainly attract students and transients who don’t want to commit to long-term employment, as opposed to people who join the industry because they love good coffee and food, and want to make it a career.

Even though the above cafes are large national and international companies (Pret turns over around GBP£150million a year, and Nero had a revenue of GBP£70million in 2005, while Starbucks has over 3000 outlets in the UK alone, and Costa has over 500,) they don’t always produce a bad cup. Pret a Manger is probably the most consistent overall, and in my view, the most attractive. They use organic, fair-trade beans and organic milk. At the end of the day, companies like these serve their purpose and feed coffee to the undiscerning masses of the western world. Sadly, they have reduced our expectations of a cup of coffee, and although they all have relatively intense training programs in place, the staff generally don’t have a great deal of passion. Many analysts expect these top companies to double in size over the next decade, so is this the demise of quality coffee on the high street?

I think not! London does have an increasing number of exceptionally good cafes, which give the aficionado an opportunity to taste coffee as good as anywhere else in the world.

‘Flat White was established to bring the refined artisan style coffee prevalent in Australian and New Zealand cafes to London. Flat White has become a rendezvous for Soho locals and a haven for Australian and New Zealand expats and travellers desperate for a good coffee in the capital.’

Yes, it seems that the influence of down-under has ebbed its way into the London coffee market. A brewer of Monmouth beans, Flat White consistently delivers a fantastic cup with attention to detail that keep the homesick Kiwis and Aussies coming back.

Sacred is a Kiwi venture based just off Carnaby Street, owned by Wellingtonians Phil and Vicky Ross. They provide a consistently excellent cup of Joe, along with typical New Zealand cafe food, such as soup, panini, biscotti and carrot cake.

Apart from the Antipodean establishments, other noteworthy London cafes include Café Italia, an institution on Frith Street. Where else in London can you experience a more Italian coffee experience, complete with Vespa riders and surly service?

Vergnano (pronounced ver-nya-no) on Charing Cross Road produces a consistently excellent cup in the Italian style. Worth a special visit. They even give a free chocolate with every cup!

For aficionados of all things coffee and tea there’s the internationally renowned Algerian Coffee Stores on Compton street, in Soho. This store is over 120 years old and specialises in coffee and tea with over 80 different coffees and 160 different teas to choose from. Well worth a visit, even for a quick espresso.

Top of my list would have to be Monmouth. Taking a small share of an industry worth over GBP£1billion a year in the UK, they are succeeding as a growing business with 3 cafes (2 in Borough Market and 1 on Monmouth Street in Covent Garden) and a substantial bean-roasting division. Established in 1978, I think that the overall reason for successfully being able to produce consistently superb coffee in their cafes is that their focus is actually on their roasting division. In fact, their café sales would probably only account for around 5 % of their business, something that accentuates their success when considering the queues to be endured at all of their outlets. They even have a training centre to ensure that all the cafes they supply (numbering around 75) are producing great coffee, further enhancing the reputation of Monmouth Coffee. Go there today!