Caffeine

Caffeine (pronounced ka-feen, kaf-een or kaf-ee-in)

A white, crystalline, bitter alkaloid with the chemical compound C8H10N4O2.

1830: From the French caféine, the construct being café (coffee) + ine (the chemical suffix).  The earlier German was kaffein, from kaffee (coffee); the adjective is caffeinic.  Technically, caffeine is a trimethyl-derivative of xanthine, a coining as Kaffein in 1830, from German Kaffein, by German analytical chemist Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge (1794–1867).  He chose the name because the alkaloid was found in coffee beans; its presence accounting for the stimulating effect of coffee and tea.  The noun caffeinism was coined as medical jargon in 1880 to describe the "morbid state produced by prolonged or excessive exposure to caffeine" although the condition had for centuries been noted by doctors and others.

Of coffee

Caffeine's molecular structure.

Methyltheobromine (or caffeine) is a central nervous system stimulant and the most widely consumed psychoactive drug which works, inter alia, by reversibly blocking the action of adenosine on its receptor and consequently prevents the onset of adenosine-induced drowsiness.  Caffeine is a bitter, white crystalline purine, a methylxanthine alkaloid, chemically related to the adenine and guanine bases of DNA and ribonucleic acid RNA.

Human caffeine consumption is said to date from circa 3000 BC when, according to Chinese legend, the mythological Emperor Shennong (Divine Farmer) serendipitously invented tea, a story derived from an early book on the history of tea.  Coffee drinking first became common in the mid-fifteenth century in the Sufi monasteries of Yemenin Arabia and it spread first to North Africa and by the sixteenth century was widely consumed throughout the Middle East, Persia and Asia Minor.  The first European coffee houses were in Italy and they soon became common throughout the continent.

Voltaire (1760) by Théodore Gardelle (1722–1761); he doubtlessly agreed with de Fontenelle.

In its pure form, caffeine can be fatal in tiny quantities although in the form usually enjoyed, coffee, one would need to drink over a hundred cups in a day to approach toxicity.  Voltaire (1694–1778), often at the Café de Procope in Paris, drank sometimes as many as forty cups a day, enjoying it so much he ignored the advice of his doctors to stop.  He lived to eighty-four but there’s no evidence the often attributed quotation: “It may be poison, but I have been drinking it for sixty-five years, and I am not dead yet” was his.  The more likely source is French author Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle (1657–1757) whose actual words were: “I think it must be [a slow poison], for I’ve been drinking it for eighty-five years and am not dead yet.”   Fontenelle died a month short of his hundredth birthday.

Depiction of seventeenth century London coffee house.

Whatever the concern about coffee the drink, the coffee house the place attracted its own concerns.  There’s some evidence coffee houses were welcomed by the authorities when first they became popular in seventeenth century London because they seemed a desirable alternative to the ale house where men would drink beer and later gin, leading to all the notorious social ills.  However, it seemed soon to kings and ministers that while having drunken men brawl or beat their wives was hardly good, it was a more manageable problem than having them cluster, share the newly available cheap newspapers and pamphlets, talk and think.  Men taking and thinking might lead to them getting ideas which was worse than them fighting in the street and government made repeated attempts to suppress the coffee shops.  Ultimately, caffeine prevailed.

Johann Sebastian Bach (circa 1760) by Johann Eberhard Ihle (1727–1814).

On the continent, the Habsburgs were no more impressed than the Stuarts in England, the government there encouraging the idea of coffee was a subversive societal vice and there was something of a minor moral panic among good citizens disturbed at the corrupting influences of such places.  This didn’t amuse a German composer famously associated with the late Baroque, JS Bach (1685–1750) who was fond of taking his frequent shots in his favorite coffee shops and, although never noted for his light-heartedness, he took an amusing poem mocking the public’s concerns, written by his frequent collaborator Christian Friedrich Henrici (1700–1764; pen name Picander), and set it to music as Schweigt stille, plaudert nicht (Be still, stop chattering).  Composed between 1732-1735, it’s usually called the Coffee Cantata, although, it’s really a comic operetta.  A satirical commentary, the work makes fun of the concerns respectable folk had about coffee and coffee houses.  In Vienna as in London, caffeine triumphed.

Despite the joys of a Bach cantata and the persuasive (if misattributed) endorsement of Voltaire, the killjoy editors of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) weren’t sure ordinary folk could be trusted to decide how many cups of coffee daily to enjoy and declared more research was needed.  They often conclude more research is needed.  Strangely, the DSM’s editors appear to be less trusting than most clergy, caffeine a drug to which even normally condemnatory priests, rabbis and mullahs don’t object, the only famously abstemious among the major faiths being the Church of Latter-Day Saints (the Mormons), the Seventh-Day Adventists and the Rastafarians, the last perhaps a surprise given how well a long black complements some good weed.

Simple pleasure: the long black.

Widely consumed, caffeine is a psychoactive drug which produces its psychomotor stimulant and reinforcing effects through antagonism at adenosine receptors and indirect effects on dopaminergic neurotransmission.  The editors of DSM-5 (2013) were prepared to concede consumption of caffeine at recommended dietary doses is usually at least harmless and may even have some benefits such as the enhancement of analgesia but do caution some may experience caffeine-related health effects and functional impairment and that this can manifest in different people at different levels of consumption.  Higher doses can produce dysphoric subjective effects and caffeine intoxication, including restlessness, nervousness, insomnia and an irregular heartbeat.  It’s also associated in some with gastrointestinal problems, urinary incontinence and anxiety, use during pregnancy said to be associated with especially poor outcomes.

Lindsay Lohan with coffee, leaving Coffee Bean, Los Angeles, December 2007.

Cold turkey may not be the solution either, the editors documenting withdrawal symptoms which some may experience if abruptly discontinuing regular use, including headaches, fatigue, irritability, a depressed mood, difficulty concentrating, and even flu-like symptoms, the DSM-5 codifying the conditions as (1) caffeine intoxication, (2) caffeine withdrawal, (3) caffeine-induced anxiety disorder and (4), caffeine-induced insomnia.  These are listed as the potential diagnoses when symptoms cause clinically significant distress or impairment and, because some individuals report an inability to reduce their consumption despite clinically significant problems even after seeking treatment, caffeine consumption can be said to lead to substance dependence.

Caffeine is an essential part of the recommended pro ana breakfast.

Thus the DSM-5 proposed three necessary diagnostic criteria for caffeine use disorder: (1) a persistent desire or unsuccessful efforts to reduce or control caffeine use, (2) continued caffeine use despite knowledge of (it’s not specified if an explicit acknowledgment is needed) having a persistent or recurrent physical or psychological problem that is likely to have been caused or exacerbated by caffeine and (3), withdrawal, as manifested by the characteristic withdrawal syndrome for caffeine, or caffeine or a closely related substance being taken to relieve or avoid withdrawal symptoms. Six additional diagnostic criteria included in other substance use disorders, such as craving, tolerance, and taking caffeine in larger amounts or over a longer period of time than intended, were also included as markers for greater severity beyond the three key criteria for caffeine use disorder.  Because caffeine is so widely consumed, to reduce any potential for over-diagnosis, the proposed diagnostic strategy for caffeine, despite sounding onerous, is actually more conservative than for other substances.

Red Bull girls.  One can see the attraction of energy drinks.

The editors did note the paucity of data relating to the prevalence and clinical significance of caffeine use disorder and the suspicion is the interest may have been triggered not the usual suspect, coffee, but the newer generation of energy drinks and diet supplements.  Previous research was apparently too focused on specific, small-subsets rather than the general populations, some of the studies so specialized as to be thought unrepresentative of the general population.  One (very small) study of caffeine use disorder in the United States (reported in the DSM-IV (1994)) found that 30% of caffeine consumers fulfilled the generic DSM-IV criteria for substance dependence as applied to caffeine but this fell to 10% under (the supposedly more realistic) DSM-5 criteria, a hint the concerns of clinical over-diagnosis do need to be taken seriously.  Again, the point was made that more research is required, the extent to which caffeine use disorder is associated with markers of clinical significance such as self-reported caffeine-related distress or impairment, psychological distress, sleep problems, or other drug use is wholly unknown.

The documented study the editors reviewed was the most thorough evaluation yet conducted of the prevalence, clinical significance and correlates of meeting proposed criteria for caffeine use disorder yet it was extensive enough only to inform future research and considerations regarding risk and differential diagnosis, technical points about the parameters of control group populations especially noted.  Despite the apparent lack of robustness, the editors were persuaded the findings did support the inclusion of caffeine use disorder in future editions of the DSM.  Although only a small percentage of sampled caffeine consumers met the proposed key diagnostic criteria, where the standards were met, there were clinically meaningful effects.

All reputable authorities recommend a caffeine intake of not more than 400 mg a day, or two long black coffees.  Many coffee fiends exceed this before breakfast is over.

Caffeine has become more interesting as a drug because of the late twentieth-century phenomenon of the energy drink, the interest not so much in the caffeine content which, can be much more or much less than a cup of coffee but because the pattern of consumption is, in certain sub-groups, so associated with strong alcohol, often on a 1:1 (ie 30-60 ml spirits to 250 ml energy drink) basis, a pattern well known with long-established mixers like Coca-Cola but now in both much greater volume and a much higher caffeine content.  It’s difficult to tell whether a problem has emerged because while the deaths associated with the combination attract attention, the aggregate numbers, impressionistically, seem small and may not be statistically significant.  There's even been the suggestion extreme variations in ambient temperature may have been an at least contributory factor in some deaths.

Caffeine addiction is one of humanity’s most widespread vices and it extends to those driving cars.  In famous tort case, Stella Liebeck v. McDonald's Restaurants, P.T.S., Inc. and McDonald's International, Inc (1994 Extra LEXIS 23 (Bernalillo County, N.M. Dist. Ct. 1994), 1995 WL 360309 (Bernalillo County, N.M. Dist. Ct. 1994), a passenger in a car (a 1989 model with no cup holders) received severe burns from spilled coffee, just purchased from a McDonald’s drive-through.  Although the matter received much publicity on the basis it was absurd to be able to sue for being burned by spilling what was known by all to be “hot” and the case came to be cited as an example of “frivolous” litigation, there were technical reasons why some liability should have been ascribed to McDonalds.  The jury awarded some US$2.6 million in damages although this was, on appeal, reduced to US640,000 and the matter was settled out of court before a further appeal.

Hertella Auto Kaffeemachine, 1959.

In the twenty-first century, some now judge cars on the basis of the count, capacity & convenience of its cup-holders but in the less regulated environment of the FRG (Federal Republic of Germany, the old West Germany, 1949-1990) of 1959, one company anticipated the future trend by offering a dashboard-mounted coffee maker for the Volkswagen Type 1 (better known as “the Beetle”).  The Hertella Auto Kaffeemachine was not a success, presumably because even those not familiar with Sir Isaac Newton's (1642–1727) First Law of Motion (known also as the Law of Inertia: “An object at rest will remain at rest, and an object in motion will continue in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced external force”) could visualise the odd WCS (worst case scenario).

A happy caffeine addict, pouring himself a cup of coffee in his VW Beetle.

That it was in 1959 available in 6v & 12v versions is an indication Hertella may have envisaged a wider market because VW didn’t offer a 12v system as an option until 1963 and the company seems to have given some thought to Newtonian physics, the supplied porcelain cups fitted at the base with a disc of magnetic metal which provided some resistance to movement although the liquid obviously moved as the forces were applied.  The apparatus was mounted with a detachable bracket, permitting the pot to be removed for cleaning.  The quality of the coffee was probably not outstanding because there’s no percolation; the coffee added in a double-layer screen and “brewed” on much the same basis as one would tea-leaves and for those who value quality, a thermos-flask would have been a better choice but there would have been caffeine addicts willing to try the device.  The trouble was there clearly weren’t many of them and even in the FRG of the Wirtschaftswunder (the post war “economic miracle”) the fairly high price would have deterred many although now, one in perfect condition (especially if accompanied by the precious documents or packaging) would command a price well over US$1000.

Pavlova

Pavlova (pronounced pav-luh-vuh, pahv-loh-vuh, pav-luh-vuh or pah-vluh-vuh (Russian)).

A meringue cake, topped typically with whipped cream and fruit or confections.

Circa 1930: Named after Russian ballet ballerina Anna (pronounced ah-nuh) Pavlova (1885-1931).  Pavlova is a transliteration of the Russian surname Па́влова (Pávlova), the feminine variant of Па́влов (Pávlov).  Pavlova is a noun (pav the usual contraction); the noun plural is pavlovas.

Julia from Pampered Menial (1975) by Pavlov’s Dog.

Although coined at much the same time, the adjective Pavlovian is unrelated Ms Pavlova or meringue cakes.  It refers to the theories & experimental work of Russian physiologist Ivan Petrovich Pavlov (Ива́н Петро́вич Па́влов; 1849-1936), especially in connection with the conditioned salivary reflexes of dogs in response to the mental stimulus of the sound of a bell (in the West, his work was in 1911 originally referred to as the “Pavloff method” because of a misunderstanding by editors).  His work was a landmark in experimental behavioralism, inducing a dog associatively to link a biologically potent stimulus (food) with a previously neutral stimulus (a bell).  The phrase “Pavlov’s dog” entered English to describe a conditioned response (reacting to a situation on the basis of taught behavior rather than reflectively).  One interesting aspect of comrade Pavlov’s career is that he made no secret of his opposition to many aspects of communism in the Soviet state built by comrade Stalin (1878–1953; leader of the USSR 1922-1953), on occasions making his views plain even to the general secretary himself.  Despite that, no action appears ever to have been taken against him and after he died (at 86 of natural causes), he was granted a grand funeral.

Anna Pavlova with Jack.

Anna Pavlova was famous for her interpretation of The Dying Swan, a solo dance choreographed by Mikhail Fokine (1880-1942) to Camille Saint-Saëns's (1835-1921) Le Cygne (The Swan) from Le Carnaval des animaux (The Carnival of the Animals (1922)), commissioned as a pièce d'occasion (an artistic work produced for a special event) for the ballerina who performed it on some 4000 occasions.  It's a short, intense piece which follows the last moments of a swan.  Ms Pavlova for years kept a pet swan called Jack.

New Zealand is a small country in the remote South Pacific which has over the years produced some notable figures such as (1) Lord Rutherford (1871–1937) who, although a physicist who regarded other branches of science as mere forms of engineering which worked within the laws of physics, was awarded the 1908 Nobel Prize in chemistry and is most remembered for his work which led to the atom being split in 1932, (2) Sir Edmund Hillary (1919–2008) who, with the Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay (1914–1986), was the first to ascend Mount Everest and (3) Sir David Low (1891–1963) who was among the most noted and prolific political cartoonists between the troubled 1930s and the early Cold War years.  The country has also for more than a century fielded what has been usually the world’s most successful rugby union side (the recent inconsistency of the All Blacks not withstanding) and memories are long, the try disallowed by a Scottish referee in a 1905 test against Wales at Cardiff Arms Park still a sore point.

Mango, passion fruit & limoncello pavlova.

Less bitter but no less contested than the matter of the disallowed try is the origin of the Pavlova, the invention of which is claimed by both Australia and New Zealand.  What all agree is the cake is a mixture of egg whites and sugar, topped usually with cream and fresh fruit, named after the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova who toured both countries during the 1920s.  Researchers on both sides of the Tasman Sea (referred to by locals as “the ditch”) have long trawled cook books and newspapers to find the earliest entry but according to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), New Zealand appears to hold the evidential advantage, a recipe from there having been verified as published in 1927 while the oldest claimed entry from Australia dates from 1935.  That however resolves only the use of Ms Pavlova’s name as the description, pastry chefs adding cream to meringue known even in the nineteenth century and the 1927 recipe in the book Davis Dainty Dishes, published by the Davis Gelatine company, was a multi-colored jelly concoction.  New Zealand’s historians of food concede the culinary point but cite recipes from 1928 & 1929 which are definitely of meringue, cream and fruit.  Strangely perhaps, the OED remained on the lexicographical fence, listing the origin as an ambiguous "Austral. and N.Z."

Espresso martini pavlova

Preparation: 1 hour

Cooking: 2 hours:

Serves: 10-12

Ingredients

8 egg whites
Pinch of cream of tartar
1 tablespoon ground coffee powder
430 gm (2 cups) caster sugar
2 tablespoons of corn-flour
1 teaspoon white vinegar
600 ml (l carton) thickened cream
125 ml (½ cup) coffee liqueur
2 teaspoons cocoa powder
Chocolate-coated coffee beans (to decorate)
Dark chocolate curls (to decorate)
Coffee vodka syrup
2 tablespoons vodka
2 teaspoons arrowroot
100 grams (½ cup, firmly packed) brown sugar
125 ml (½ cup) prepared espresso coffee

Instructions

(1) Preheat oven to 120^oC (100 ^oC fan forced) (250^oF (210 ^oF fan forced).  Draw a 200 mm (8 inch) circle on 2 sheets of baking paper.  Place each sheet, marked side down, on a baking tray.

(2) Use an electric beater with a whisk attachment to whisk the egg whites and cream of tartar in a clean dry bowl until firm peaks form.  Gradually whisk in the coffee powder.  Add the sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, whisking constantly until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is thick and glossy.  Beat in the corn-flour and vinegar.

(3) Divide meringue mixture among the 2 marked circles on the prepared trays. Use a palette knife to spread mixture into 2 evenly shaped discs.  Bake for 2 hours or until meringues are dry and crisp.  Turn off oven. Leave meringues in the oven, with the door slightly ajar, until cooled completely.

(4) Meanwhile, to make the coffee vodka syrup, combine the vodka and arrowroot in a small bowl.  Combine the sugar and coffee in a small saucepan.  Bring to the boil over high heat, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Reduce heat and simmer for 3 minutes or until the syrup has thickened slightly.  Stir in the vodka mixture and return to the boil, boiling for 1 minute or until thickened.  Remove from heat and transfer to a small bowl and set aside to cool.  Place in the fridge until required.

(5) Use electric beaters to beat the cream in a bowl until soft peaks form. Beat in the coffee liqueur and cocoa until firm peaks form.

(6) Place 1 pavlova disc on a serving plate. Top with half the cream mixture. Drizzle with a little coffee vodka syrup. Scatter with coffee beans and chocolate curls.  Repeat with the remaining disc, cream mixture, syrup, coffee beans and chocolate curls.  Serve.

An issue still: Auckland Airport, New Zealand, December 2023.

Capuchin

Capuchin (pronounced kap-yoo-chin or kap-yoo-shin)

(1) A notable agile, forest-dwelling Central and South American monkey (Cebus capucinus), having a prehensile tail and a cowl of thick hair atop the head, vaguely resembling a monk’s hood.

(2) Any monkey of the genus Cebus (the term ring-tailed monkey is also sometimes used and the Sapajus apella is known as the tufted capuchin.)

(3) A style of hooded cloak historically worn by women.

(4) A friar belonging to a strict and autonomous branch of the Franciscan (Friars Minor), casual use extending later to Franciscans and eventually to cowled monks generally.

(5) Among bird-watchers, A hooded pigeon.

1590–1600: From the Middle French, from the Italian cappuccino, the construct being capuche (a long, pointed hood worn by monks in many Roman Catholic monastic orders) + -in(o).  Capuchin was an Italian borrowing of the Middle French capuchin (Capuchin friar) (from the earlier from earlier capucin), from the Italian cappuccino (Capuchin friar (literally “a small capuchin)), from cappuccio (hood, cowl), from the Late Latin cappa (cape, hood); synecdochally it was used also to refer to members of orders of Roman Catholic friars generally.  The Italian suffix -ino was from the Latin -īnus, from the primitive Indo-European -inos and was comparable with the English -ine.  It was a noun-forming suffix used (1) to form diminutives, (2) to indicate a profession, (3) to indicate an ethnic or geographical origin & (4) to denote a device, tool or instrument; as an adjective-forming suffix it was used (1) to indicate an ethnic or geographical origin & (2) to denote composition, color or other physical qualities.  Capuchin & capuchiness are nouns; the noun plural is capuchins.

Lindsay Lohan in black capuchin, Los Angeles, October 2011.

The hooded habits worn by friars and nuns of the Capuchin order were a distinctive reddish-brown and in seventeenth century Europe capuchin was a common description of the hue.  According to histories published by the order, the robes were inspired by the vestments actually worn by Saint Francis of Assisi (circa 1180-1226) in the thirteenth century, some of which were preserved in the Abby to which his remains were taken.  Saint Francis actually wore robes which were uncolored but, apparently for no reason other than product differentiation, the Capuchins colored their fabric lest they be confused with friars of other Church orders (the Benedictines, Augustinians, Franciscans etc).

The Colombian white faced capuchin (Cebus capucinus).

The style of prepared coffee called cappuccino (pronounced kap-oo-chee-noh, kah-poo-chee-noh or (in Italian) kahp-poot-chee-naw) consists of an espresso base topped with foamed milk, often served with powdered cinnamon and (sometimes) whipped cream.  The color contrast between the foam and cinnamon makes designs possible and some baristas make these their signatures.  Although it appears in Italian documents from the nineteenth century, the word seems first to have achieved wider popularity in the immediate post-war years (1645-1948).  It was adopted originally because the color of the foam-cinnamon mix was fancied as having a resemblance to the color of a Capuchin habit.  In a trend which has shocked purists, there have long been those who prefer powdered chocolate to cinnamon.

Lindsay Lohan with a brace of takeaway cappuccinos, Los Angeles, January 2008.

Whether the cappuccino really was “invented” by an Italian Franciscan after the 1683 Battle of Vienna (when the armies assembled by the Holy Roman Empire turned away the Ottomans besieging the gates of the city, thereby saving Europe from the threat of Islamic conquest) is unknown and likely a myth but it remains a popular story and, unlike the similar attribution of the aftermath of the battle being the birthplace of the croissant, it’s never actually been disproved.  Historically, all agree the appearance of the cappuccino has changed over the centuries and the extravagance of the froth is a recent innovation.  The name certainly comes from the color of the habits worn by “Capuchin” friars which so resembled the color the beverage assumed when a small measure of milk was added to the almost black, brewed coffee and it’s at least possible cinnamon was among the herbs sprinkled but there were likely many tried.  The modern cappuccino with espresso créma and steamed milk is a twentieth century creation but innovation has always surrounded the barista’s steam and in the late eighteenth century, the Viennese used the German modification of the Italian cappuccino (Kapuziner) and, being Austrians, added whipped cream and spices although some recipe books mention egg yolks as part of the concoction, sugar apparently compulsory.  As an Italian specialty (thought to be an import from the Italian-speaking parts of the Austro-Hungarian Empire barely known outside the country or the parts of the Austro-Hungarian Empire) it spread in the early years of the twentieth century as espresso machines suitable for use in cafés entered volume production and prices fell but outside the country it remained almost unknown until the 1930s and it was during the post-war period when the combination of an influx of foreigners to Italy and the mass-migration of Italians that the cappuccino became the latest of the nation’s many cultural exports.

A classic cappuccino.

However, unlike the practices in many places, Italians seldom took a cappuccino before ten or eleven in the morning, the cultural tradition (said to date from Ancient Rome) being that milk ingested too early in the day impedes the digestion of food for the rest of the day, thus the Italian preference for an early espresso.  In places beyond, there was no such reluctance and in US cities (where they’d been widely available in Italian restaurants since the 1930s) the breakfast cappuccino became a bit of a cult among urban sophisticates and late in the century as coffee chains became first national and then international, the cappuccino went worldwide.

The cappuccino’s place in the milky ecosystem detailed by CoffeeHow.  Sasha’s coffeehow.co is the web’s outstanding site for coffee fiends, being both comprehensive and accessible.  If there’s anything to be known about coffee, Sasha’s site has an entry.  

Making a cappuccino at home

Ingredients

1 oz dark roast ground coffee.
½ cup hot water.
¾ cup whole milk.
Sprinkle of powdered cinnamon.
Whipped cream & sugar (raw sugar or coffee crystals are best) are optional, neither of which are recommended.)

Directions

(1) Place coffee grounds in French press and add the hot water.  Allow the mix to steep (the process by which a porous solid absorbs a liquid) for 4 minutes, then push down on plunger down and pour into a mug, ideally one with an outward curl to the lip.

(2) While coffee is steeping, pour milk into a small pot and heat to 140-150^o F (60-65^o C); ideally, use a thermometer to test temperature.

(3) Pour hot milk into a large container (ideally one made from stainless steel with handle & spout and conical so opening is somewhat narrower than base) and with handheld frothing wand froth hot milk; this should take some 3 minutes.

(4) Pour frothed milk into mug atop coffee and if foaming has been done correctly it should be very foamy on top.  The sugar can at this point be added but a cappuccino is best enjoyed unsweetened.  Sprinkle with cinnamon and serve, if desired with whipped cream.

Tiramisu

Tiramisu (pronounced tir-uh-mee-soo)

An rich Italian semifreddo dessert made with espresso coffee-soaked layers of cake alternating with mascarpone cheese and chocolate; variations sometimes add liquor.

1972: From the Italian tiramisù, the construct being tira (pick or pull) + mi (me) + sù (up).  The Italian tirare (to pull, tug) is from the Medieval Latin, from the Vulgar Latin tirāre, of unknown origin but thought by most etymologists to be Germanic.  In the Italian it’s tiramisù and the alternative spelling is tirami sù.

Signor Campeol (1927-2021) with a slice of his tiramisu.

Aged ninety-three, Ado Campeol died on 31 October 2021.  Signor Campeol owned Le Beccherie, a restaurant in Treviso in the north of Italy and it was there the most celebrated modern form of tiramisu was created by his wife, Alba Di Pillo and their chef.  Constructed with espresso coffee-soaked biscuits, mascarpone and chocolate, it was added to the Le Beccherie menu in 1972 but, being never patented by the family, it became another of Italy’s many cultural gifts to the world. Around the world, there are variants of tiramisu which include different chocolates, spirits like rum or liquors but the original recipe (certified in 2010 by the Italian Academy of Cuisine) was alcohol-free because it was meant to be eaten by children too.  Quite when the concoction was first made isn't clear and there is evidence something similar may have appeared as early as the nineteenth century and there are accounts of similar dishes from the 1960s.

Lindsay Lohan with tiramisu, Terry Richardson (b 1965) photoshoot, 2012.

There has long been a dispute about the origin of tiramisu, including the tempting suggestion it was offered as an aphrodisiac in one of Trevisio’s brothels but the definitive modern version seems to be the one created at Le Beccherie, opened by the Campeol family in 1939 and managed after the end of World War II by Ado Campeol.  According to the co-inventor,  Italian chef Roberto "Loli" Linguanotto (1943-2024), the creation of tiramisu was entirely serendipitous, the result of a slip of the hand while making vanilla ice cream, some mascarpone cheese which had been spilled into a bowl of eggs and sugar proving to yield a delightful taste.  The chef and Signora Campeol experimented with combinations, perfecting the dessert by adding ladyfinger sponges soaked in coffee, and sprinkling it with cocoa.  They called it tiramisù which translates into English as "pick me up", a tribute to the refreshing sensation a serving provides.

Tiramisu recipe

This will serve 4-6, take about 30 minutes to prepare and will be ready to serve after a further two hours of chilling.  This recipe includes only Marsala wine but works well with liquors like Kahlua or Benedictine.

Ingredients

300ml espresso coffee, brewed
2 tablespoons Marsala wine
4 eggs
100g sugar
500g mascarpone
300g ladyfinger (Savoiardi) biscuits
200g shaved dark chocolate
Unsweetened cocoa powder

Instructions

(1) Brew coffee using a macchinetta.  In saucepan or other heatproof container, combine coffee and Marsala wine, stirring slowly, then set aside to cool.

(2) In a bowl, separate egg whites from yolks and whip whites until stiff.  In another bowl, whisk the yolks with the sugar until pale and smooth. This should take 3-5 minutes.

(3) Add mascarpone to the yolks and whisk slowly with an electric mixer. Add the stiffened egg whites and mix through with a wooden spoon until smooth and creamy.

(4) Dip ladyfingers into the coffee and wine. Spread a layer of the biscuits in a serving dish, add a level of shaved chocolate (depth according to taste) and spread a layer of mascarpone mixture on top. Sprinkle with cocoa powder. Repeat layers once more.

(5) Sprinkle the top with cocoa powder. Chill for 2 hours before serving.

Big-bite sized: two spoonfuls of tiramisu at 10 William Street, Paddington, Sydney, Australia.

Apparently in response to the waiters often hearing contented customers lament they were "too full for dessert", 10 William Street, a wine bar and restaurant in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs, has begun offering their well-regarded tiramisu by the spoonful, the single-serve  listed at Aus$3.50 compared with a whole slice at Aus$17.00.  Whether this becomes at trend remains to be seen but for a restaurant, the economics are probably compelling because (1) it's viewed as an additional sale rather than someone choosing it over the full-sized dish and (2) preparation and presentation costs are minimal. 

Zarf

Zarf (pronounced zahrf)

In the Levant, a holder with a handle, rendered traditionally in ornamental metal and used to hold a coffee cup without a handle.

1836: Adopted in English from the Ottoman Turkish ظرف‎ (zarf), from the Arabic ظَرْف‎ (ẓarf) (container, sheath).  An alternative spelling is zurf and in the Balkans: zȁlf & zȁf (Serbo-Croatian); zȁrf (за̏рф in Cyrillic).  Zarf is a noun; the noun plural is zarfs.

Ottoman era solid silver zarf (with a depiction of the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul (formerly Constantinople), Turkey (now the Republic of Türkiye), circa 1890.

Zarf was a specialized adoption in Ottoman Turkish of the Arabic zarf which means “container”.  In Arabic, a zarf is also an envelope and the word is sometimes appended to various Arabic, English and international forms as required.  A Zarf-DL is the familiar DL envelope, a zarf değiştirmeyi is a change envelope and, specific to printers, a zarf yazıcı is an envelope feeder & zarf dönüş an envelope return.

Lindsay Lohan out getting the morning coffee fix.

The modern plastic zarf.  Modern zarfs are designed to accommodate most disposable coffee cups, made usually in a small-medium-large range which is not quite internationally standardized but with variations small enough not to matter.

Better to minimize the risk of an almost inevitable spillage and seldom seen without a most capacious handbag in which one might be carried, noted coffee fiend Lindsay Lohan really should invest in a modern, portable zarf although, how long single-use, disposable coffee cups will be permitted isn’t known.  Weather forecaster Greta Thunberg (b 2003) would probably suggest we should all carry our own cup but history suggests governments are unlikely to rely on environmental consciousness to induce behavioral change and consumers may soon be charged to use disposable coffee cups and wooden utensils.  The experiment with forcing supermarkets to charge for plastic bags proved yet again what increasing the cost of cigarettes had repeatedly demonstrated: that nothing changes behavior quite as well or as quickly as making the target more expensive.  Remarkably, since the UK government introduced their levy on plastic bags, consumption has dropped by over ninety percent, a good outcome which pleased the supermarkets too.  It meant a small but not insignificant cost of operating was shifted from retailer to consumer and the introduction of a relatively low-volume but highly profitable a new profit centre: plastic bags.  In Australia, the dominant duopoly, Coles and Woolworths, which once had to give away a combined 5.7 billion bags annually year at .3 cents per bag, costing them Aus$171 million, now sell 1.2 billion of the heavier bags, yielding an annual profit estimated to be about Aus$70 million; a turn round of Aus$240 million so a nice little earner and some handy green-washing to boot.