 |
|
|
The Story of the Bialetti Moka Expressby Myron Joshua Page 1 | Page 2 Alongside and connected to the rise of Italian fascism came a revolution in the drinking habits of the Italian public. It might sound peculiar, but what has become known as THE Italian way to brew coffee in the home, Moka Pot (or Stovetop Espresso) Brewing is linked to the social, technological and economic changes that Italian fascism advanced during the 1930’s. Prof. Jeffrey T. Schnapp in his article, “The Romance of Caffeine and Aluminum” (Critical Inquiry, Vol. 28 No. 1, Autumn 2001 U. of Chicago) covers this ground in detail. Schnapp shows how the Italian desire to move into the era of modernity in the early 20th century was expressed through the “marriage” between two, ostensibly very different materials, caffeine and aluminum. While my article summarizes his, I must accept all responsibility for any additions, misinterpretations or mistakes that may have entered it.
Caffeine and Aluminum are two materials that carry a common symbolism linking them to the age of modernity: Lightness, speed and mobility, Strength, energy, and electricity, are terms that fit both these materials and are associated with the new life style that modern man was seeking. Coffee and Aluminum: Icons of ModernityWhile both caffeine and aluminum were isolated (or discovered) in the early to mid 19th century, it was the fascist drive to make Aluminum the national metal of the Italy in the 1930’s that brought these two materials together in a way that would effect every Italian home! In 1933, Alfonso Bialetti fashioned and crafted the first Aluminum Stovetop espresso coffee maker. This coffee machine, The Moka Express, would find itself in 90% of all Italian homes (as well as in the Guinness Book of Records) thus changing the essence of Italian coffee culture. Bialetti changed not only coffee brewing technique but also the Italian social fabric. Coffee was generally consumed publicly. Public coffeehouses dominated the coffee trade in all aspects from buying and selling to roasting and consumption. They were the birthplaces of many ideological and political movements throughout Europe. Public coffee consumption was the realm of the male who made the coffee bar his home away from. Consumption of coffee by women was associated with their move to emancipation. Inventors sought how to use new developments in technology to create better and more powerful coffee machines for the public sphere. The coffeehouse was associated with the developing modern psyche. (On the other hand, domestic coffee machines remained quite “tame”, being simple and basic.) Increased consciousness of the effect Caffeine had on the individual also served as a catalyst to these developments. Caffeine, isolated in 1820, was associated with creativity, agitation and activity, Honoré de Balzac wrote of the effects of coffee: “Ideas surge forth like the battalions of a great army…Memories attack with their banners unfurled…witticisms appear as sharpshooters. Figures begin to take shape. The paper covers itself with ink for the mighty labor begins and ends with torrents of black water...“ Decades later the Italian founder of the Futurist movement would call himself the “caffeine of Europe” who, as Schnapp writes, “envisaged himself both as a purgative agent, dedicated to freeing Europe from its idolatry of the past, and as a new sort of industrial-era human being-a hyperactive multiplied man... These developments and concepts gave birth to what was to become THE ultimate Italian form of coffee: Café Espresso, a strong and powerfully intense cup. The 19th century saw a number of attempts to brew coffee with steam. The goal was to brew a strong cup of coffee very quickly. One coffee brewer actually took the shape of a train locomotive (see image) highlighting the connection between speed and power and the use of water boilers used for both modern travel and making “modern” coffee. In 1901 Luigi Bezzera filed his first patent for a large espresso machine. This machine, like the railroad locomotives, was a dazzling piece of equipment-loud, shining with brass fittings and manned with its own “train engineer”, the professional barista. The Italian artist Leonetto Cappiello beautifully captured this association in the 1922 advertising poster created for “La Victoria Aduino”, manufacturers of espresso machines. (For a biography and more images of L. Cappiello’s work see www.famousartprints.com/Leonetto-Cappiello.htm)
How different than the simple coffee machines, like the Napolitana still used in the home. The home machines were like sedate tea brewers that brewed by letting hot water gently trickle over the coffee grinds. The Espresso brewed at the public coffee bar “was power-packed, intense and quickly consumed It translated the values of efficiency and excitement associated with the express train into an everyday beverage. In comparison to coffeehouse espresso the domestic coffee was but a slow and pallid imitation.” (Schnapp p 251). One can understand how the Espresso Bar became a magnet for the Italian man. But, in 1933 Alfonso Bialetti invented a brewing system that changed the image of domestic coffee in Italy. His chances for success were increased as the invention brought about the marriage of two materials Aluminum and coffee. Beyond their appeal as symbols of modernity, these two substances were significant to the Italian nation during the 1930’s. The Italian Commitment to AluminumFascism’s “March on Rome” wanted to create a break with the past and at once restore Italy to its old glory. The use of Aluminum would suit this two-fold desire. In a huge national advertising campaign during the ‘30’s, Aluminum would be described as being be both AVIONAL and ANTICORODAL. “Avional”-from the word meaning “airplane”, would suggest the modern technological aspect highlighting both speed and strength. “Anticorodal”, “non-corroding”, would highlight traditional values, everlasting and sturdy. Beyond this double symbolism, Aluminum work was associated with the combination of high technological achievement with the traditional Italian values of craftsmanship and fine design. So it was quite natural to call Italians to “Rally” around this material as was done in a 1931 editorial: “…(A)cknowledge that a new and decisively important protagonist has emerged in the nation’s economic life: ALUMINUM. An Italian metal, the abundance of which makes us the envy of the world…Aluminum is sure to permit us to reduce to a bare minimum the importation of other metals, freeing the Fatherland from the onerous tributes that, to this day, continue to be exacted abroad…(Aluminum) embodies Italy’s unyielding destiny!” Note the words of Arnoldo Mussolini, the brother of “il Duce”: “We have often said: just like the 19th century was the century of iron, heavy metals and carbon, so the 20th century should be the century of light metals, electricity and petroleum. In the course of history discoveries sometimes serve as the beneficiaries of peoples. If we (Italians) haven’t iron, we have Aluminum.” Besides promising economic independence Aluminum was seen as particularly suited to the Italian craftsman. In an article from 1932 we read “...we would be tempted to assert the Latinity of aluminum to the degree than other metal lends itself so well the temperament of the Latin peoples, in general and of the Italians, in particular. ..one can declare without hesitation that Italy has achieved a degree of aesthetic expressivity…that place it in the forefront.”
Coffee was also seen as highlighting nationalistic values, particularly, EMPIRE and AUTARCHY. “Empire”, in that Italy had invaded Ethiopia-a major producer of coffee beans. “Autarchy”, freedom from subjugation to the nations of the world, because Brazil had continued to supply Italy with coffee bean against League of Nations decisions to apply sanctions. Page 1 | Page 2 |
