Coffee connoisseurs often enjoy a frothy cup of cappuccino, a thick, creamy concoction of coffee topped with a cap of velvety foam. Interestingly, the first use of the word “cappuccino” is traced to the Italians in the 16th century, referring to the long, pointed cowl or cappuccino (derived from cappuccino meaning “hood) that was worn as part of the habit of the Capuchin order of friars founded by Saint Francis of Assisi.
The restoration of Catholicism in Reformation Europe is attributed to the Capuchin monks whose order was established after 1525. In more modern usage in the mid to late 1940s, the word cappuccino was introduced to describe espresso coffee mixed or topped with streamed milk or cream, so called because the color of the coffee resembled the color of the habit of a Capuchin monk.
Cappuccino lovers would argue that the foam cap on the drink is the element to a great cappuccino. Steam frothing of milk to prepare a cappuccino coffee involves injecting air and steam into milk to create the foam and to heat the milk to near boiling.The traditional Italian cappuccino is generally much stronger than the Americanized version, with proportion of espresso to cappuccino foam much greater.
Traditionally, cappuccinos are served only in the morning and not drunk throughout the day or after dinner, as has become the norm in American today. In cappuccinos, the espresso is always served at the bottom of the cup, with foam placed over the top.
Cappuccino cups are wide and round, usually with a six to eight ounce capacity: Both single and double cappuccinos are served in these cups. The wide shape of the cup allows the foam to cover more of the surface area of the espresso than a narrow cup would; so when you sip a cappuccino, the espresso slides underneath the cappuccino foam and get an equal taste of both.
Cappuccino