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Dating cappuccino

PostPosted: Wed Aug 09, 2006 10:41 am
by tillsbury
In a recent BBC TV drama a character is seen ordering and drinking a cappuccino in what is supposedly late 1976 in Birmingham. This is too early, surely? When was cappuccino generally available in cafes in that kind of place? Charles.

PostPosted: Wed Aug 09, 2006 10:46 am
by Paul L
If my history is correct, Espresso started in 1906 and so I was surprised there was little made of centenary celebrations this year. Steaming milk? don't know without looking at those old machines but presumably you're asking not if it existed but if it was in the UK in places like Birmingham? Before the lifestyle brands moved into the high street I would assume you could find espressos and capps anywhere there might be Italian or other coffee-drinking immigrants who might have brought in the machines and the knowledge with them.

(The Pavoni is 40 years old and I'm assuming the steam wand was not a recent addition, as an example.)

PostPosted: Wed Aug 09, 2006 11:29 am
by clovissangrail
Hmm, drinks in "period" drama. Reminds me of one of the few occasions I have watched Heartbeat where someone walks into the village pub and orders "a glass of the house red". Given the whole thing is shot in Goathland in N Yorks near where I grew up, I cannot help thinking that I probably wouldn't order red wine there in 2006 let alone 1960something.

Cappuccino possible but not probable I would have thought. Arguably poor research, and would probably have been ordered as a "Milky Coffee" unless character was more informed than one would expect.

Re: Dating cappuccino

PostPosted: Wed Aug 09, 2006 11:43 am
by GeorgeW
tillsbury wrote:In a recent BBC TV drama a character is seen ordering and drinking a cappuccino in what is supposedly late 1976 in Birmingham. This is too early, surely? When was cappuccino generally available in cafes in that kind of place? Charles.


When I was in my teens in the 50's coffee bars were all the rage and cuppuccino was the "in" drink.

Admit it.....the point of your post was to make me feel ancient. :cry:

PostPosted: Wed Aug 09, 2006 1:38 pm
by Davec
And if the espresso machine was broken (but the steamer still working), a spoonful of instant topped in a little hot water topped of with frothy foamed milk!

PostPosted: Wed Aug 09, 2006 2:23 pm
by Guest
It's amazing what you find using google. Anyone heard of this project?

http://www.cappuccinoconquests.org.uk

which has this page which a section about 1950s UK and cappuccino http://www.cappuccinoconquests.org.uk/project.cfm#UK

PostPosted: Wed Aug 09, 2006 2:27 pm
by bainesy
Anonymous wrote:It's amazing what you find using google. Anyone heard of this project?

http://www.cappuccinoconquests.org.uk

which has this page which a section about 1950s UK and cappuccino http://www.cappuccinoconquests.org.uk/project.cfm#UK


Ah - that was me posting this - I thought I'd logged in...

PostPosted: Wed Aug 09, 2006 5:50 pm
by kingseven
I've spoken to Professor Morris and various others about this on several occaisons as I had initially wanted to write a paper on this topic.

Cappuccino predates modern espresso, and very early italian cappuccino used the foam from boiled milk.

However there is the predecessor of the cappuccino which is kaputziner. This is an austrian drink where the coffee and the milk were blended to the colour of the cappucin monk's robes. It is likely the first cappuccino also used colour as a guide (and was nothing to do with bald monk's or "hoods" of foam!).

There are various claims on the modern cappuccino (such as Cafe Reggio in New York - Donald Schoenholt's article from a few years ago, though I can't remember which magazine it was in, perhaps Tea and Coffee, perhaps Fresh Cup)

The word is pretty hard to date, and tracking the evolution of the drink to where it is now is even harder.