Cappuccino

What is cappuccino?

Cappuccino is a typical Italian coffee drink, especially from Trieste (presumably his hometown).

Cappuccino, latte macchiato (a more refined alternative to coffee and milk) and coffees (black or macchiato, hot or cold), are the irreplaceable drinks of the Italian breakfast. They are traditionally accompanied by sweet foods such as brioches, cakes and various desserts (biscuits, biscuits, etc. are used at home).

In Italy, cappuccino is rarely consumed at different times in the morning; on the contrary, foreigners, especially during their stay in the Bel Paese, use cappuccino at all times of the day, even at the end of the main meals (after lunch and after dinner).

It is conceivable that the etymology of the term cappuccino is related to the color of the drink, which is reminiscent of the habit of the Capuchin monks. It is not excluded that, in the beginning (around 1800), the cappuccino was simply a variant of the Austrian Kapuziner.

With the transalpine passage to Trieste and the subsequent diffusion in the territories which, shortly afterwards, would have become Italian, from the early 1900s the Capuchin began to take root deeply in the food culture of the whole peninsula.

Nutritional properties

Nutritional characteristics of cappuccino

Cappuccino is a drink with the characteristics of a food. The main ingredient, milk, belongs to the II fundamental group of foods and provides proteins with high biological value, specific vitamins and minerals.

With an average amount of added sugar (about 7 g), which contributes 50% of the total energy, cappuccino is a more caloric product than juice and fruit juices, but less energetic than cola-type drinks.

Calories are mainly supplied by carbohydrates, followed by lipids and finally by proteins. Carbohydrates are mainly simple, saturated fatty acids and high biological value peptides. Cholesterol is negligible and fibers are absent. Among the vitamins, B2 or riboflavin and vitamin A are more abundant; regarding the mineral salts, the levels of calcium, phosphorus and potassium are significant.

The cappuccino has no noteworthy contraindications; in case of overweight, type 2 diabetes mellitus and hypertriglyceridemia it is necessary to avoid adding sugar.

Severe hypercholesterolemics and vegans may request the replacement of cow's milk with soy milk.

Lactose intolerant can solve the problem of milk sugar by using delactosate. Due to the presence of caffeine, it is advisable to avoid using it in the infant diet.

The average portion of cappuccino is of a specific cup, containing about 200 ml of whipped drink or 130 g of ingredients (92 kcal).

Cappuccino, with about a sachet of sugar
Nutritional values per 100 g
Power		71.0 kcal
Total carbohydrates		9.8 g
	Starch	0.0 g
	Simple sugars	9.8 g
fibers		0.0 g
Grassi		2.5 g
	Saturated	1.58 g
	Monounsaturated	0.83 g
	polyunsaturated	0.09 g
Cholesterol		8.0 mg
Protein		2.9 g
water		83.4 g
Vitamins
Vitamin A equivalent		- μg
	Beta-carotene	- μg
	Lutein Zexanthin	- μg
Vitamin A		32.25 RAE
Thiamine or B1		0.06 mg
Riboflavin or B2		0.16 mg
Niacin or PP or B3		0.20 mg
Pantothenic acid or B5		- mg
Pyridoxine or B6		0.07 mg
folate		12.0 μg
Choline		- mg
Ascorbic acid or C		0.8 mg
Vitamin D		0.0 IU
Alpha-tocopherol or E		0.11 mg
Vit. K		- μg
Minerals
Football		92.7 mg
Iron		0.3 mg
Magnesium		- mg
Manganese		- mg
Phosphorus		88.2 mg
Potassium		180.0 mg
Sodium		37.9 mg
Zinc		0.37 mg
Fluoride		- μg

Cappuccino recipe

Ingredients and procedure

The cappuccino contains espresso (25 ml) and whole cow's milk (100 ml), fresh, mounted by means of a vaporizer; the final volume of the cappuccino will be 200-250 ml.

The original recipe does not include the addition of sugar, cocoa or spices (such as cinnamon); the regulation of taste and taste is the full right of the diner.

To satisfy the nutritional and / or ideological needs of lactose intolerant, vegans and those who want to reduce animal fats in the diet (saturated fatty acids and cholesterol), today almost all commercial activities offer cappuccino with soy milk or milk lactose.

Cappuccino preparation

The cappuccino process could be summarized as follows:

Preparation of an espresso in a cappuccino cup
Assembly - milk foaming
Incorporation of milk into the cup with the espresso without having the foam removed
Service.

How is assembly - milk foaming?

To obtain milk frothing it is necessary that the milk has three characteristics:

Whether fresh, pasteurized, NOT UHT
Be whole, that is, have a percentage of fat of at least 3%
Have a room temperature or cold, not too hot.

The increase in the volume of milk due to the incorporation of air (in the case of the vaporizer, water vapor is introduced) occurs mainly thanks to proteins. These must be intact, not denatured or temporarily altered by heat, and stabilized by a certain amount of fat.

Using the vaporizer we recommend:

Drain it first from the condensed water inside it, making it go empty for an instant
Immerse it in milk and proceed with assembly in a decisive manner, avoiding that the milk comes to a boil. Proceeding correctly, it is possible to froth milk (whole, fresh and cold) without eventually exceeding 50-60 ° C.

Since commercial milk is homogenized (to prevent the lipids from separating from the aqueous component), the frothed milk is unstable and not very durable. This is why the preparation of cappuccino must be rather rapid, with no downtime.