ò cafè
(Coffee)


Nobody is sure about the exact origins of this term. Some say it means to “express” the liquid out of the machine, or in other words “push out”, the same way we express our emotions. Others have said the older process of coffee making was too long, so a quicker method was necessary. Supposedly, passengers had to get a quick coffee before their trains arrived and so was born the espresso. Who knows? Really, who cares? The reason I put in a section describing the term espresso is because I want it to be known that in Italy, the only place where it is necessary to talk about espresso, it is only referred to as “un caffè (a coffee). As stated in the History Of Coffee section, the English word “coffee” comes from the Italian “caffè, which was translated from the Arabic “qahwa”. The drink was not viewed favorably in Europe and was called a Muslim drink or “wine of Islam”. It took the Italian Pope Clement VIII to quell fears and position it as an acceptable Christian drink. Again, the Italians played a major role in something as globally diffused as coffee.