COFFEE IN THE SAND

COFFEE IN THE SAND

Dec 3, 2022 | JOURNEY FROM MUG TO MUG, WORLD

Sand coffee or, more precisely Turkish sand coffee is the typical Turkish coffee brewed in hot sand.

First of all, thank you Lu: inexhaustible source of tips, and in case you have not yet visited her blog The Caustic Misanthrope be aware that you are missing out on very interesting reading.

Bir fincan kahve i.e. the cup of coffee is brewed in the cezve.

The cezve is a kind of kettle pot with a classic pot-bellied shape on the bottom, long-handled with a spout designed specifically for making Turkish coffee.

 

Turkish coffee is prepared differently than ours: ground coffee and water are mixed directly in the cezve and the coffee powder is not filtered.

This is why it is sometimes sweetened or spiced first: when the coffee is ready, the coffee powder settles quickly to the bottom but you don’t have to stir it.

But speaking of grains, let’s come to the sand!

What does sand have to do with this?

Apparently, coffee was introduced to Istanubul by Syrian traders in the 16th century, however it was initially considered a drug, so it was forbidden.

However, coffee gained popularity and the ban was lifted.

Sultans and nobles began to have it brewed by their workers using the hot sand method.

Because in the hot sand the heat is enveloping and complete compared to the flames of a fire, it makes for a coffee with a creamy consistency.

 

In the following video you can see the process.

What do you think about?

Not to rub it in, but unlike our coffee, Turkish coffee has been added to UNESCO‘s list of intangible cultural heritage of humanity. 

Perhaps we could try reading coffee grounds to seek more luck for the future.

SMART CITY

SMART CITY

Sep 3, 2022 | ITALY, JOURNEY FROM MUG TO MUG, TECHNOLOGY

Smart City is a definition that recurs more and more often now.

Smart City is one of the main themes of civics hours in school.

But specifically how do you experience what smart offers in your city?

In your experience, can you tell of an actual improvement in the quality of your life, or is it all still ephemeral in your neck of the woods for now?

In the image I wanted to finally “offer” you a coffee in Piazza Ducale.

But the city of Vigevano offers many other experiences, including virtual ones.

On the City’s website you can check out a Vigevano Smart City dashboard with some options among which I would like to point out the live webcam. 

And when you decide to come and visit our ducal living room, you will have at your disposal these directions that offer the possibility of more information via QR code.

In the same vein, a “digital” bench was inaugurated.

Red, as red is the symbolic color against violence against women. 

The problem is that hand in hand should also be converted the education of citizens, who too often prove to be the exact opposite of smart.

A marker mark was enough to make the QR code illegible.

This tiny stroke actually emblematically represents a great trait that sets us apart, and likewise reveals the weakness on which what should be the future rests ….

FILOSOFEGGIANDO IN ALLEGREZZA

FILOSOFEGGIANDO IN ALLEGREZZA

Aug 19, 2022 | JOURNEY FROM MUG TO MUG

Filosofeggiando in allegrezza is the blog that gives us a new stage of the Journey from mug to mug, and now I have plenty of joyful serenity for these pictures too!

As you may have guessed, the photo below the title is from Spain: Galicia, and to be precise it is from the Vigo Book Festival. 

As Feiras do Libro de Galicia take place every year in various towns and cities in Galicia, in the spring and summer months, with stalls run by booksellers, and an extensive program of parallel activities, such as readings, meetings with authors, exhibitions, book presentations, etc., that make these events a meeting of great cultural interest.

The writer who most universalized Vigo was Jules Verne, in a passage from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

Have you read it?

I missed it until my son brought it home from the elementary school library, but there’s always time to recover, right?

In Verne’s novel, the Vigo estuary hides very rich treasures from the Battle of the Bay or Battle of Rande.

“So, Mr. Aronnax (…), we are in that same bay of Vigo. It is up to you to unravel its mysteries.”

The battle took place on October 23, 1702 between the Anglo-Dutch and Spanish-French coalitions during the War of the Spanish Succession. Spanish galleons arrived at the Vigo estuary laden with the greatest treasure that had ever crossed the Atlantic: gold and silver, jewels…

“The sand was littered with those treasures. Then, laden with that precious booty, those men would return to the Nautilus, deposit their burdens and resume that inexhaustible fishery for gold and silver.”

Since then hundreds of dives have been made in the waters of the Vigo Estuary in search of treasure. Without going any further, six battle-related wrecks were located and identified in 2011.

Thus, don’t you think that the quote chosen to introduce the Festival:

THE BEST STORIES BEGIN WITH GOOD COFFEE

is simply perfect?

If you want to discover further interesting anecdotes about Galicia, don’t miss the description of the trip here on Filosfeggiando in Allegrezza. 

Speaking of precious things then, here are two coffees from Monforte de Lemos!

So after Verne we can also mention Miguel Cervantes’ El ingenioso caballero don Quijote de la Mancha, precisely with reference to the Count of Lemos.

But about Monforte de Lemos you can ind more details on Filosfeggiando in allegrezza in the second part of the report.

And what about you? Where have you had your coffee lately?

KCDC on VOYAGE MINNESOTA MAGAZINE!

KCDC on VOYAGE MINNESOTA MAGAZINE!

Jun 18, 2022 | ISN'T IT IRONIC?, JOURNEY FROM MUG TO MUG, WHO CARES

I sincerely thank all the staff of Voyage Minnesota Magazine and especially Camila, for contacting me and for the space they gave me!

I went browsing in Minnesota to discover Egg coffee and this virtual journey allowed me to discover interesting things I did not know, but at the same time someone else discovered me.

Unbelievable stuff, I know.

Yet here I am, with new friends and another story to tell.

The story of a project that I liked right away.

The story of a project whose thoughts are key words, which are also my own:

We also think that artists rock.

This is kind of the concept of Minnesota Voyage Magazine:
We love small business, mom-n-pop and holes in the walls. We’re not snobs, but we don’t love most chains. We think independent entrepreneurs, freelancers and other risk-takers make our cities exciting places to live. We cherish the rebellious spirit, we don’t think just a handful of big companies should control all of our commerce, and we think smore with vegan marshmallows are better than regular marshmallows. We respect people and organizations that take the road less traveled. We root for the underdog and almost never say no to pizza.

After all, how can one say no to pizza?

If you’d like, after pizza, you can find me by clicking on this coffee. 

PIEDMONT: MUGS AND … BICERIN

PIEDMONT: MUGS AND … BICERIN

Apr 30, 2022 | JOURNEY FROM MUG TO MUG, JOURNEY FROM MUG TO MUG

I am delighted to receive this photo for the categhory journey from mug to mug! 

I sincerely thank Valeria: her cute mug comes from Piedmont.

I can do it, and I will, but after the coffee.

Basically a mantra printed on the mug.
Encouragement with every sip.
What to say? Perfect!

In Piedmont there is a place of the heart for me: Novara, a city that holds important moments of my life.

But Valeria sparked my interest in another place in particular.

A place where a very special drink is served in glasses without handles… bicerin, in fact.

I’m talking about the legendary Caffè al Bicerin since 1973 in Turin. 

Here is Valeria’s Bicerin!

I don’t know about you but I feel a sudden desire to taste it 🙂

Valeria told me that it should be drunk as it is served: that is, without mixing it.

The Bicerin is in fact composed of three basic ingredients: coffee, cream and chocolate … good company no doubt about it 🙂

Obviously, however, Bicerin is much more than that, and it is above all history.

The story of an eighteenth-century drink made up of three different separate glasses, almost as if for a sort of ritual, which over time has evolved into the current version that brings together n poc ‘d tut.

Story also told in the Virtual Museum of Turin. 

History of a drink that boasts illustrious admirers.

Umberto Eco tells it in The Prague Cemetery:
… I had gone as far as one of the legendary places of Turin at the time. Dressed as a Jesuit, and enjoying the amazement I aroused with malice, I went to Caffè Al Bicerin, near the Consolata, to take that glass, which smelled of milk, cocoa, coffee and other aromas. I still didn’t know that even Alexandre Dumas, one of my heroes, would have written about the bicerin a few years later, but in the course of two or three raids in that magical place I had learned all about that nectar …

Nectar gives a pretty good idea, don’t you think?

DYNAMIC LEADERSHIP MODEL

DYNAMIC LEADERSHIP MODEL

Apr 5, 2022 | BOOKS, JOURNEY FROM MUG TO MUG, WORK

Dynamic leadership model is the book published by Santelli Editore that Milan Krajnc is currently presenting in Italy.

Dr. Milan kindly sent me a picture of his coffee in Milan for the column “journey from mug to mug.” 

I thank him, with the best wishes for his book presentation tour.

Dynamic leadership model is a project to which he cares in a particular way, telling of how it basically involves future and humanity, according to the principle that man first takes care of his own goals.

The cornerstone is Nature.

Business and material goals must support personal goals, according to Dr. Milan’s model.

A truly optimal concept, especially in this black period on all fronts, not least work, don’t you think?

I have had the opportunity to hear the experiences of many people and honestly, despite all my cosmic pessimism, I would not have been able to imagine to what levels one falls, in terms of working conditions, in too many areas and in too many cases, unfortunately.

This is why I feel strong empathy, in particular with my classmates from the last course I attended: a heterogeneous yet complementary group, capable of cementing itself by turning into a truly beautiful friendship.

I hope you have no problems with your job, I hope you find it satisfying, I hope your merits are recognized and paid in a suitable manner.

I hope you can witness the satisfaction, the realization of dreams, the realization of your project, just like Milan with his Dynamic leadership model.

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