Il Caffe'...Coffee a Way of Life

Coffee is the life blood of Naples. You drink it in a cappuccino for breakfast and you drink it black about a dozen times thereafter. While in Italy, I've had coffee as late as 10PM, later if it was a weekend or a holiday. I've had friends that were on their way to work invite me for coffee, knowing perfectly that they'd be late to work if they walked into a bar. By the way, bar in Italy are establishments where you normally consume coffee, snack, pastries and such. They do carry alcohol, but it's not customary for people to binge drink at a bar. That's usually done at the dinner table with a little vino rosso (red wine). Neapolitans prefer their coffee in an espresso machine. Unlike what we are used to here, espresso machines are not electrical or mechanical, as matter of fact they are simple metal devices that use heat to boil water and filter through the coffee. The coffee preferred by Neapolitans is by far caffe' Kimbo, a Brasilian coffee. If you ever have espresso, you will notice that it is creamy, very rich and guaranteed to wake you up!

(Photo courtesy of Bialetti)

You will also find that the only variations of coffee drinks in Naples and Italy for that matter are:
Caffe' doppio: Double shot
Caffe' Coretto: Coffee' with a little extra (usually Baileys of some other form of Whiskey)
Caffe' Latte: Coffee with a splash of milk
Latte e Caffe': Warm milk with a splash of coffee
Caffe' con la Panna: Coffee with a squirt of whipped cream
Cappuccino: Steamed milk with one shot of espresso a lots of milk foam on top

As you can see, all the options we now find in U.S. coffee shop are not the norm in Italy.

Espresso cups are very small, they are the equivalent of shot glasses. As a matter of fact, I've seen shot glasses used as coffee cups on several occasions in Italy. 

Like I mentioned before, coffee is a way of life. The minute you walk out your house, you go out to coffee, especially if you have company. If you are shopping and you stop by a bar, you automatically have to go in and get coffee. Usually, the person whose gets the idea to get coffee buys, unless they are younger than you, like your nephew, son, grandchild, student, etc.  If someone visits you at work or at home, you make them coffee. If you visit someone, they make you coffee and you'd better drink it! I've had people feeling very offended because I wouldn't drink the coffee, I soon obliged. I guess it's a good thing I like it.

Pane Casareccio (Homemade Bread)

So after two years of trial and error, I did it! Homemade bread the way I used to eat it in Naples. There they call it "Pane Cafone" or "Pane Casareccio". This bread is more salty than the bread you are probably used to and has an olive oil base. It goes great with all Italian dishes and is especially good when dipped in sauce. Neapolitans have a tradition called the "scarpetta" (little shoe). When they are done eating the pasta, they dip bread in the left over sauce until the plate is clean.

*Please note that this recipe will result in bread looking and tasting very close to the original. The only way to make original pane casareccio is to have a starter yeast purchased  directly from panificios in Italy. In most cases these starter yeasts are hundreds of years old and are considered trade secrets, so panificio owners don't let go of them easily. I found a website here in the U.S. that sells 2 kinds of original Italian starter yeast for about $20. I am not affiliated with the company so I will not post its information here, but if you are interested you can email me directly for the link.

For this recipe I used my beloved stand mixer and the dough hook attachment. You can make this recipe without the mixer by kneading by hand but it may require a little muscle work.

Ingredients for two small loaves:
3 Cups whole wheat flour
1 cup white flour
1 cup warm water for yeast
2 packets instant or quick rise yeast
2 tsp salt
1 cup water for the mix
1 tsp sugar for proofing

Place yeast, sugar and 1 cup warm water in a cup. Wait ten minutes and if yeast had doubled, then it's active. The correct temperature  for the water is between 105 to 115 degrees Fahrenheit, I like to use water that is warm enough to start to feel uncomfortable but not too hot to where it burns.

Place whole wheat flour, 1/2 cup white flour and salt in the stand mixer mixing bowl and mix at a low setting.

Add the yeast mixture, the olive oil and the rest of the water, mix on level 2 for 2 minutes. Add the rest of the white flour and mix until dough climbs on the  hook and is elastic (usually about 2 to 3 minutes).

Cover the bowl in plastic wrap and place in a dark, warm place for 1 hour.

Remove dough from bowl, divide into to and roll out with a rolling pin. Roll both into loaves and place into two separate greased loaf pans. Cover with  plastic wrap and return to a dark place for one hour.

Preheat oven to 400 F and cook for 30 to 40 minutes until bread a dark gold or brown. Remove loaves from pan and cool down on a cooling rack.

Olive Oil Dip
A good olive oil dip for Italian bread, such as the ones you find in Italian restaurants is this one.

1   Tsp  Italian seasoning
1/2 Tsp Salt 
1/4 Tsp Black Pepper
2 TBSP Olive Oil

Buon Appetitio!