Happy Friday!
I hope that you had a good week! Today we pay tribute to the soldiers who fought on the beaches of Normandy in 1944. D-Day was the largest invasion force in the history of humankind and the beginning of the end of the war in Europe. In case you were wondering, the first "D" doesn't stand for anything. The battle was also known as Operation Overlord and the Battle of Normandy.
Today also marks the birth anniversary of Angelo Moriondo, inventor and earliest patent owner of the espresso machine in 1851. I am not a coffee drinker and don't imbibe espresso, but I realize that for many people, this was a landmark invention. Moriondo was born in Turin, Sardinia. He was an inventor from an entrepreneurial family that was engaged in other important commodities. His grandfather started a liqueur producing company that was later run by his father, Giacomo. Giacomo also founded a chocolate company with his brother and cousin, called Moriondo and Gariglio (the latter was his cousin). Angelo also owned a hotel and a bar.
Moriondo's espresso machine used a combination of steam and boiling water to brew coffee. He presented it in 1994 at the General Expo of Turin where it won a bronze metal. After patenting the initial machine, he continued to improve upon it with subsequent patent updates. He never took the invention to large scale production, and it was designed to brew in bulk, rather than individual servings. He saved the few hand-built machines for exclusive use in his establishments, using them as advertisements.
Coffee was big business in Europe at the time. Espresso is the purest distillation of the coffee bean. It is the method of preparing coffee, not a particular roast of coffee. Espresso uses highly-pressurized hot water forced over a layer of coffee grounds to produce a one ounce, very concentrated drink with deep, robust flavor. Authentic espresso is all about good chemistry, with the perfect balance of grind, temperature and pressure.
Why is called "espresso"? Brewing coffee took a long time (5 minutes or more) in the 1800s. Nothing has changed since then as people still don't want to wait for coffee. Being the "age of steam", inventors looked for faster brewing methods. Moriondo's "new steam machinery for the economic and instantaneous confection of coffee beverage" was a large boiler heated to 1.5 bars of pressure that pushed water through a bed of coffee grounds, with a second boiler producing steam that would flash the bed of coffee and complete the brew. According to Smithsonian magazine, his brewer was never photographed and there are no verifiable machines of his in existence.
Luigi Bezzera and Desiderio Pavone brought espresso to the next level. Bezzera was a liquor maker and modified Moriondo's machine to produce a cup of coffee in seconds. However, it used an open flame which interfered with the consistency of the shot. Pavoni bought Bezzera's patents in 1903 and invented the pressure release valve that prevented hot coffee from splashing all over the barista. He also created the steam wand to access built up steam inside the boiler. Bezzera and Pavoni introduced "café espresso" at the 1906 Milan Fair, and Pavoni mass produced the machines commercially to market his brand name "espresso", meaning "made on the spur of the moment". While quick, the steam gave the coffee a burnt or bitter taste.
Pier Teresio Ardiuno tried to make an espresso machine that didn't rely on steam but he failed. However, he was a master marketer and exported Pavoni's machine across Europe. Milanese café owner Achille Gaggia invented the lever-driven machine after World War II. He used steam pressure in the boiler to force the water into a cylinder that was further pressurized by a spring-piston operated by the barista ("pulling a shot"). This improvement got rid of massive boilers and drastically increased the water pressure to 8-10 bars, producing one ounce of espresso at a time. It also led to the discovery of "crema" the foam floating over the coffee that defines espresso.
The last significant revolution in espresso production was Ernesto Valente's Faema E61, invented in 1961. It used a motorized pump rather than the barista's manual force to provide the 9 bars of pressure needed for brewing. It was an immediate success.
Despite scientific advances, making espresso is also an art requiring 4 M's: Macchina (the machine), Macinazione (proper grinding of beans between fine and powdery, done just before brewing the drink, Miscela (the coffee blend and roast), and Mano (the skilled hands of the barista).
There was a coffee shop in Syracuse, New York, cleverly named Federal Espresso. Federal Express (FedEx) sued them for infringement of their trademark name and logo. The district court denied the motion which was upheld appeal in the U.S. Court of Appeals Circuit Court. FedEx obviously has no sense of humor.
The way to celebrate Moriondo's legacy seems apparent – enjoy! Although I don't like the taste of coffee in any form, it does go well with chocolate. Have a great weekend.
Deb
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5Gba61V2nQ