Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Espresso Is The Breakfast Of Champions In Italy.

I can remember from an early age, my mother and father putting a little bit of coffee into my milk with my breakfast. When I would go to Italy and sleep over at my cousin's house my aunt would prepare a bowl of latte with a splash of coffee in it that went along nicely with my breakfast biscotti. Most people and especially here in the USA, no doctor would say to do that for the fear your child would be bouncing off the walls. Not to mention the American diet is filled with sugar and tons of other toxic ingredients and this is probably the biggest reason why a doctor would say that today.
Drinking coffee is really like a staple ingredient in the Italian diet, they drink it sporadically all throughout the day and can visit "the bar", not the alcohol bar but coffee bar located at every corner usually in Italy. I think coffee gets such a bad rap here, but really the consistencies are different. Here we drink large cups of coffee with tons of either milk or half and half. There you drink literally a shot of espresso with some sugar and that's it. What's better? I think the small shot of espresso, rather than a cup of fat and sugar.
Coffee has become like a family member in my parent's house. My father has a fit if the coffee runs out at night and then he's panicked that there is no coffee for the morning. Or if the coffee pot breaks he's literally heart broken. He made the transition to regular cafe Americano years ago and now is a proud supporter of Maxwell House. But, give him a shot of espresso and his eyes light up. Its safe to say yes, coffee may be addictive but scientifically the benefits of coffee are really quite good. I'm no doctor, but Italian research has indicated that the antioxidants present in coffee help arteries and the heart. But I would also say, coffee in moderation is good. I believe in the Italian diet because their way of eating consists of moderation and not overkill of one ingredient. We could learn a lot by the way the Italian eat.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh yes, coffee is vital to the continuation of life around here! One thing though that I find "odd," I guess I could say is that in Italy people basically eat cake for breakfast with their coffee.

This isn't too healthy and I don't know many American families who would give their kids a piece of cake before they go to school.

Anonymous said...

I don't think it's a bad thing to give your children a little taste of coffee (espresso)from an early age...We always grew up drinking a bit of coffee with our milk or even in our sugar egg (did you ever have those?...raw egg yolk, sugar and a splash of espresso!), along with some fette biscottate. Still my favorite breakfast :-)
True Cherrye, American parents might not give their kids cake for breakfast but think about all those sugary cereals, pancakes, etc...
Like Margaret wrote though, everything in moderation is the way to go...