0 1 /2011 © Caffè Moak S.p.A.
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0 1 /2011 © Caffè Moak S.p.A.
01/2011 © Caffè Moak S.p.A. the sign moak www.caffemoak.com Posta target Magazine – Fees paid – DCB Central/PT Magazine Ed./aut. Nr. 50/2004 – valid from 7/04/2004 - Aut. Court. Forlì nr.18 Of 2000 - News nr.1/2011 Responsible Director: Marco Pederzoli Managing Editor: Stefano Della Casa Editing: Annalisa Spadola, Massimo Giardina, Marco Lentini, Sergio Iacono, Saro Giunta, Corrado Barone, Gian Paolo Galloni, Dino Della Casa, Stefano Della Casa. Graphic Coordination: Studio Degò (MO) Art work: Chiara Ottolini and Eleonora Cascone Publisher: Studio Della Casa S.a.S Via Emilia Ovest 1014 - 41123 Modena - tel.059-8396080 www.studiodellacasa.it, e-mail: [email protected] Company with certified quality system by BVQI in accordante with the regulations ISO 9001:2000 Exclusive printing for Edizioni Dott. Della Casa: Arbe (MO) According to the article 7 of the law rn. 196/03 the addressee can have Access to his data, asking for changes or cancellation or object writing to: Studio dott. Della Casa S.a.s. Via Emilia Ovest, 1014 - 41123 Modena (MO) - Italy 04 06 08 09 10 12 13 16 20 21 24 25 29 32 34 36 38 Pedrocchi coffee from Padua Caffè Letterario Moak celebrates his tenth birthday Photo competition The Sign Moak on iPhone and iPad Coffee interpreted by two star chefs Industrial designer, Angelo Ruta Cinema and coffee, story of a deep love Cartoons and cars, in the world of imaginary motors A coffee with Fausto Arrighi Moak and surrounding. This is our story Moak forms. The cup Cappuccino and brioche an Italian story Donatella Finocchiaro, from Catania to Cannes’ red carpet Horeca, GDO, Vending products Watch closely. The Moak bean The ammazzacaffè, a great Italian tradition Zonda and Huarya. Daughters of the Argentine breeze 01/2011 Pedrocchi Coffee from Padua by Dino Della Casa Marie-Henry Beyle, also worldwide knows by his pen name Stendhal (1783 – 1842), writer of literature masterpieces like “The Charterhouse of Parma” and “The Red and the Black”. After having visited the historical centre of Padua, he wrote: “C’est à Padoue que j’ai commence à voir la vie à la vènitienne, les femmes dans les cafés. L’excellent restaurateur Pedrocchi, le meilleur d’Italie”, which sounds like this in English: “It’s in Padua that I started to see the Venetian way of life, with women sitting in cafés. The excellent restorer Pedrocchi, the best all over Italy”. So, even the French writer, one of the many intellectuals that stopped at least one time at this café throughout the course of the centuries, observed the unique atmosphere you can breathe in the place in Via VIII Febbraio number 15, today nearing two and a half centuries. Indeed, between the eighteenth and nineteenth century, coffee consumption in Italy spreads over enormously and so the tradition of coffee is born - place seen as meeting point open to the middle class, in opposition to the private dimension of the noble salons. Moreover, the additional presence of more than three thousand people between students, traders and soldiers in Padua made sure that this kind of activity could expand more than in other town centres. Here’s why in that context in 1772, Francesco Pedrocchi from Bergamo opens a “coffee shop” in a strategic point of Padua, close to the university, to the town hall, to the markets, to the theatre and to the Noli square (today Piazza Garibaldi) from where the stagecoaches left to reach the nearby towns. His son Antonio, who inherited the flourishing paternal business in 1800, instantly showed his entrepreneurial ability and decided to invest his profits in the purchase of the adjoining premises, so much that within about 20 years he found himself owner of the whole block, a roughly triangular area delimited by Via della Garzeria (today Via VIII Febbraio) to the east, by Via della Pescheria Vecchia (today Vicolo Pedrocchi) to the west and by the St. Job Oratory (today Pedrocchi square) to the north. On August 16th, 1826, Antonio Pedrocchi presents the project for the construction of a plant at the local authorities, including some premises used for coffee roasting, for the coffee preparation, for the “ice preserve” and for a place where to serve the drinks. Before this construction site, Pedrocchi had commissioned another technician, Giuseppe Bisacco, to carry out the demolition works of the whole block and to build a building; but unsatisfied with the result, he had asked Giuseppe Jappelli, European renown engineer 04 the sign moak and architect and prominent figure of the middle class who frequented the café, to redesign the complex again, giving it an elegant and unique mark. The ground floor was finished in 1831, while the added body was created in 1839 in neoGothic style, named “Pedrocchino”, aimed at taking the confectioner’s (pastry store). On the occasion of the “IV Congress of Italian scientists” in 1842, the upper floor areas, decorated in different styles according to the historicizing taste of that time, creating a unique path through the human civilization, were inaugurated. The upper floor rooms were intended to be used for meetings, conventions, feasts and shows, and public and private associations that for different reasons could organize events, were allowed to use them. Antonio Pedrocchi passed away on January 22nd, 1852. Spurred on by the wish to leave the management of his café to a trusted person, he adopted Domenico Cappellatto, son of one of his boys, who committed himself to give continuity to his inherited business when the putative father died, even if he appointed managers for the various sections of the plant. An unavoidable decay due to the difficulties given by World War I characterizes the café between 1915 and 1924. Unfortunately, most of the original fittings will be dispersed in the following years. After World War II, a new restoration starts with the project of architect Angelo Pisani. He redefines the space given onto the back alley, turns the same back alley into a concreteframed glass panel gallery and makes some shops, a public telephone area and a bronze fountain. In good part of the eighties and nineties, Pedrocchi is closed due to difficulties between the management owners and the town hall. Finally, in 1994, the recovery of the premises is determined and the architect Umberto Riva and his collaborators are in charge to amend for the damage caused by the devastating restoration of Pisani. After having carried out a first part of works, the café will be handed over to the Paduan citizens on December 22nd, 1998. Today, it remains a basic stop for the city of Padua. For more information: www.caffepedrocchi.it 05 01/2011 Caffè Letterario Moak celebrates his tenth birthday by Annalisa Spadola For those who don’t know it yet, Caffè Letterario is the competition addressed to young and old writers of high hopes Moak has been organizing and promoting for ten years. The only rule for all participants is the topic that obviously cannot but be coffee, besides the length of the text. So, intense coffee in its wider meaning: the drink, the place, the plant, the taste, the aroma etc. Born by the wish to create also a cultural research around coffee, in the years Caffè Letterario increased in the number of participants, in the quality of the stories and also in the prestige of the characters that have been interested in this competition; insomuch that it became the third award in order of importance in Sicily. It’s no accident that many participants of the past editions continued to write and many of them started to work for famous national publishing houses. As said, 2011 has been the tenth appointment and given the importance of the anniversary, a particular attention has been reserved to this recent edition, starting from a panel composed of all former presidents, putting together representatives of the literary world, such as the big shots Walter Pedullà and Raffaele Nigro. The price-giving night, held in the Moak premises in Modica, was hosted by Iaia Forte, player and actress of international renown, who did the honours of the house with great elegance and expertise. Regarding the competition in strict meaning, the tenth edition has seen the victory of the story “Caffè Amaro” (Coffee Without Sugar) by Monica Gentile. A sensational Verga-like story, but at the same time not without feminine sensibility and refined and researched linguistic elegance. The successes and considerable acknowledgements of the last ten years of Caffè Letterario Moak lead us, besides priding ourselves, to a further appointment; it spurs us to give voice to a renewed enthusiasm that will see Caffè Letterario Moak once again next year, and even more, a reference point for all those who, like us, foster two passions: coffee al literature. During the evening also the prize-giving of “Corto Moak” took place - the film contest for short films Moak has been organising and promoting for six years. Despite the 06 the sign moak youngest of Moak’s cultural initiatives, the press of this field considers it one of the most interesting competitions for young authors in Italy. The first prize was won by Ivano Fachin’s “Vodka Tonic”, a strongly metaphorical short film, where life is reduced in a cocktail and where both the ingredients and proportions can be mistaken if you don’t have enough experience. The experience of living, precisely. Totally made in New York, Vodka Tonic is a film where you can already see Ivano Fachin’s stylistic and authorial feature that is turning himself from a promising to a real Italian cinema star. 07 01/2011 Photo competition Caffè Moak has always given particular attention to the world of culture and art. The cultural initiatives have been particularly aimed at enhancing and promoting new talents. This publication gave us the opportunity to continue in this sense, offering to lovers of the art of photography an occasion 08 of visibility. Indeed, we decided to call a photo competition for everybody, having as a sole rule the topic of coffee. LE winning works will be used for the arrangement of the covers of the next The Sign Moak issues. More information is available on the website www.caffemoak.com the sign moak The Sign Moak on iPhone and iPad by Marco Pederzoli The Sign Moak gets ready to land also on the Web. Indeed, the editorial project launched with this issue wants to accompany also all the pluses offered by new technologies together with the paper. If you connect to www.caffemoak. com, Caffè Moak’s official website, all services will be multimedia to all intents and purposes and therefore, it can be read and commented from all over the world. The initiative fits in with Moak’s very well-defined policy, which intention is to interact more and more with its own audience and clients, in order to confront each other and compare opinions, just like you do when you take a coffee with friends. Moreover, the information contained in The Sign Moak enhances the contents that you can already find on the website, where updated news about initiatives and corporate news are not missing, not only with reference to products, but also to the support the company offers to literature and culture in general for many years. In other terms, you will be able to have access and read The Sign Moak both from your own personal computer and from iPad and iPhone. That way, you are always informed in real-time about everything related to the extraordinary world of Moak, where coffee becomes interpret of widely appealing initiatives. 09 01/2011 Coffee interpreted by two star chefs by Gian Paolo Galloni ENRICO BARTOLINI leaves his home region Tuscany in 1998 and starts his learning career in London at Mark Page, in Paris with Carlo Petrini , in Pistoia at Pier Angelo Barontini and in Padua at Alaimo. In 2005, he takes over the management of the restaurant “Le Robinie” in Montescano (PV), which in short time becomes destination of the most demanding gourmets. And on November 24th, 2009, his thirtieth birthday, he receives a Michelin star that consecrates him once and for all chef on an international scale. On June 2010, he leaves Montescano to take over the management of the restaurant Devero in Cavenago (MB). Research and innovation are the goals Enrico is pursuing all along, in order to offer his guests dishes that excite following the local tradition. Enrico’s dish elaborated with Moak coffee is: “Smoked scampi ravioli with Moak coffee” The ravioli are filled with a fish cream, smoked with coffee and steamed. The ravioli are pan-fried with fresh butter and cognac and served with raw scampi, slightly hot fresh herbs and a sprinkle of selected Moak coffee. The recommended wine is the Rosé classic way Podere Forte di Castiglione d’Orcia (GR). 10 the sign moak Luca Marchini, graduated in Economics and Commerce, while waiting to organize himself and begin his career as professional accountant, in ‘98 he decides to work for some time at the Osteria Francescana, the famous restaurant in Modena, to satisfy his hobby for cooking. This experience turned out to be so overwhelming and involving, that he abandoned the idea to become professional accountant and embraced a career as cook instead. After several experiences in New York’s Upper East Side, at the Locanda Solarola in Castel Guelfo (BO) and being chef at a famous restaurant in Bologna, he opens his own restaurant in March 2003: L’erba del Re (The King’s grass) in Modena. In 2009, he receives his Michelin star. Luca offers simple, light and digestible food, but rich of flavour and creativity, respecting the Emilian tradition. Luca’s dish elaborated with Moak coffee is: Spaghetti with squills, coffee cream, dill and coriander seeds. Cook the spaghetti and as soon as they soften, strain them and put them in a pan with the fish broth obtained with the squill carcass, a pinch of salt and extra virgin olive oil. Let them cook, using just the fish broth to braise. Turn off the flame, add the squills to the spaghetti, sauté them energetically and finally we add the dried cube tomatoes and the finely minced dill. We put the fresh Moak coffee cream and the whipped spaghetti onto the dish, dusting them with chopped coriander seeds. 11 01/2011 Industrial designer, Angelo Ruta by Massimo Giardina This column has been created to present a character of the world of design and graphics in every issue. In the first issue, we decided to talk with Angelo Ruta. Besides the wish to pay homage to a young and brilliant artist, this choice has been also taken for an affectionate gesture for one of our collaborators, who has been contributing for several years to make the image of Moak more pleasant and interesting. We reached him at his home in Milan, where he lives since he moved to enrol to the Civic School “Art and Message” after he finished secondary school in Modica – it was 1986 and there were not many graphic and illustration schools yet. In fact, just two: one in Rome and one here in Milan. Afterwards, the illustration, graphic and comic strip courses came also into the Academies, but they were still seen as “strange” subjects at that time. So, the passion for visual arts is an “old” passion? Yes, since I was in secondary school, I liked drawing, but I had never thought it would become my profession. Defining you just an illustrator is restrictive; in fact, beside the mentioned activity, you alternate the one of dramatist, scriptwriter, director and set designer. That’s true. After the Illustration course I studied set designing at the Brera Academy and I got closer to the theatre, a world I explored first as set designer and then also as dramatist and director. And cinema? You are also scenarist and director. When my interest for the cinema started, I was curious to know “how it worked”; because being in the movies is all about teamwork, unlike all the other visual arts. And if you succeed, it offers unexpected possibilities of expression. I started attending a course at Milan’s “Professional training centre for movie-television techniques”. Here, the most formative experience was meting other students. I set up my first short films with them. Let’s go back to you job as illustrator, is there an author you user as a reference point? More than one. The history of illustration is full of visionaries and I always have copies, books, postcards of those who came before me on my desk. Every so often, I like having a look at them and loose myself in them. I think about Larsson, Rackam, or about the Americans: Rockwell, Steinberg and Spiegelman. I also like the French illustration very much. I am particularly attached to Topor, because I saw one of his anthologies at the 12 Royal Palace as soon as I arrived in Milan. That exhibition taught me that illustration is not at all a minor art, as you often believe. Is the time you spend on drawing pleasant? Yes, very pleasant. Sometimes it’s even therapeutic. Therapeutic? Why? Only when I sort out the creative nag (the research of the idea) and have approval, I can dedicate just to colours and features. It’s very similar to a ritual: choose the sheet of paper you copy the sketch on, dissolve the colour in this or that plate depending on the shade, sharpen the pencils… Which projects do you have for the next coming months? -To begin with, the forthcoming publication of three teenage books (one for San Paolo, one for Einaudi and one for Lion Hudson). Then, the release of a CD with histories for children told and sung by Pietro Pignatelli, where I acted in double stead of author and illustrator. In the end, the rival of theatre: “Il poeta volante” (the flying poet) – which I wrote and direct – a play inspired in the poet Lauro De Bosis at Milan’s Litta. And next summer I will be directing a grand opera: Donizetti’s “L’elisir d’amore” (the elixir of love), for the regional Orchestra of Molise. the sign moak Cinema and coffee, story of a deep love by Dino della Casa Times change, seasons change, but there is a constant on the wide screen: cinema feeds on coffee. The proof of such a thesis happens if you explore the most various genres and the most different times, staring with the unforgettable black and white. The protagonists of the 1949 Western film “She Wore a Yellow Ribbon” directed by John Ford for example, did understand it correctly. The scene where the main characters wake up in the morning and sip a tasty coffee is still famous. And this is not taken for granted at all: the film scenes are set in 1876, when the US cavalry has to face an impressive offensive of the Indians after the defeat suffered by General Custer at Little Bighorn. Continuing with the genre of Western films, coffee is again protagonist in “Stagecoach”, another masterpiece of John Ford, starring Claire Trevor, John Wayne, Andy Devine and John Carradine. Besides, this film marks the director’s comeback to the Western genre after 13 years. Scripted by Dudley Nichols, the film is based on a story of Ernest Haycox, Stage to Lordsburg, in turn inspired from Boule de Suif of Guy de Maupassant. In this case, an entire diligence is refreshed with a cup of coffee at the post office. In “Rio Bravo”, a 1959 Western film directed by Howard Hawks, starring John Wayne, Dean Martin and Angie Dickinson, a saloon, one of the most typical places of the West, is the setting for the coffee the main characters are sipping. To finish the connection between coffee and Western genre, here the anti-Western par excellence: “Dances with Wolves”, the 1990 masterpiece directed by and starring 13 01/2011 Kevin Costner. The great value that has always been assigned to coffee is here particularly emphasized, because it is exchange merchandise for a barter. Moving over to the Italian neorealism, could Totò, the “prince of laughter” get out of letting appear the cup in several films? Into the bargain, he even was from Naples, region of great coffee drinking tradition. Here’s why in 1951 film “Totò terzo uomo” (Totò third man) directed by Mario Mattoli, Antonio Focas Flavio Angelo Ducas Comneno De Curtis di Bisanzio Gagliardi, precisely known as Totò, drinks in a coffee cup. Similar scenes are repeated in 1954 film “Miseria e Nobiltà” (Poverty and Nobelty), also directed by Mario Mattòli, based on the namesake play (1888) of Eduardo Scarpetta and in the 1956 comedy “ La banda degli onesti” (The Band of Honest Men) directed by Camillo Mastrocinque, where the price of laughter plays together with Peppino de Filippo. And if Totò brought somehow coffee into the movies, the Italian style comedy turned it into a moment in the description of everyday life that can’t be missed. The honour of a place in the title of a successful film is given for example in the 1970 film “Venga a prendere il caffè da 14 the sign moak noi” (Come Have Coffee With Us) directed by Alberto Lattuada, with an unforgettable Ugo Tognazzi engaged in seducing and deceiving three wealthy sisters. Ten years later, the place of honour in the title does not change: indeed, in Nanni Loy’s film “Café Express” from 1980, Michele Abbagnano (Nino Manfredi) is a poor devil who acts as an illicit coffee street vendor on the night train route that goes from Vallo della Lucania to Naples, always travelling without any ticket, in order to survive and to maintain his fourteen-year old son at boarding school. The film tells about the ups and downs and the lies he has to invent to make ends meet, while hunt down by the railway police and by a group of small-time thieves who would like him to be forced partner in crime to commit their pickpocketings. Last but not least, leaving again the national boundaries and peek into the wide international cinematography, coffee is the main character in other big shot films, such as “Casablanca” (1942, directed by Michael Curtiz), “Notorious” (1946, by Alfred Hitchcock) and the unforgettable “Some Like it Hot” (1959) with the beautiful Marilyn Monroe directed by Billy Wilder. 15 01/2011 Cartoons and cars, in the world of imaginary motors by Marco Pederzoli Nobody has ever built them, and yet their motors have always worked. Nobody has ever seen them, and yet they are perfectly remembered. Nobody has ever driven them, and yet there are even some plates left. The riddle is simple, also because there are many solutions: we are talking about the cars immortalized by the cartoons and comic strips; those cars that excited generations of teenagers; that accompanied and characterized the life of many heroes with their feats and mishaps. Even they never existed, but more than ever present in the collective imaginary. Starting right from the beginning, from what has been the first car ever, how can we not think about the “fourlegged” of the Flintstones , the nice prehistoric characters that represent William Hanna’s and Joseph Barbera’s comics masterpiece? Born in the Sixties, the adventures of “ancestors” Mr Fred and Mrs Wilma Flintstone and Mr Barney and Mrs Betty Bubble intend to imitate the customs and traditions of the American middle-class of that time, where obviously also the car played an important role. All is set in prehistory; however, adapting technology to our days was necessary, so that the funny effect in this case is the human propulsion the cars of those nice characters need. Turning back to proper automotive times, what would Donald Duck be without his 313? The funny effect of this unmistakable bright red and blue utility car is the loads it 16 the sign moak is often compelled to carry: “homologated” for just two people, his nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie often get into the tight space that should function as boot. And if you add the fact that at other times it is excessively overloaded for trips or holidays and that sometimes it is asked to do impossible service, it is understandable that the 313 leaves the unlucky Uncle Donald nearly always stranded, giving rise to funny and paradoxical situations for the readers’ eyes. Staying within Disney, there is another car that left its mark in this collection of imaginary “mirabilia”: Mickey Mouse’s 113. To tell the truth, this is not the only car owned and driven by the skilful detective of Mousetown, but surely the most famous. Besides, this plate had been used many times by one of the most famous cartoonists of the skilful mouse’s adventures: the Italian Romano Scarpa (1927-2005). Depending on the historical periods, Mickey Mouse has used several cars and why not, you can read the automotive evolution through these changes. Just think about the 1935 four wheel having an “M” (initial of Mickey Mouse) on the driver’s door. However, already in the late Thirties, in different American and non-American comic stripes, we find Mickey Mouse with other cars outfitted with not overly variable coloured bodyworks: either red or totally blue, or red and blue. In general, it is nearly always utility cars, seldom custom-built, helping Mickey Mouse in car chasing outlaws, shadowing and why not, used as needed corollary for gentlemanly nights out with his everlasting girlfriend Minnie. Then, there are situations where the cars are really required and they need to be efficient, fast, in one word extraordinary. Got it? Batmobile, what else. Or better, the car of superhero Batman. Like Mickey’s much more humble car, even this one underwent deep evolutions over the years, adapting to technologies and times. Just think about the fact that when Batman appeared on the newsstand in 1939, the Batmobile was not called like that. It simply was an impressive and opulent car for those days, a modified “sedan car” but without any specific identity yet. The name, and consequently the eternal notoriety, comes a couple of years later, on February 1941, within the 48th issue of the set. Afterwards, a detail will be added, which would have become essential for the instantaneous identification: the bodywork’s colour – gloss black. As for the used models, they are indeed a mirror of the times. Already in the Fifties, for example, the war time bat-nosed car seemed old- 17 01/2011 fashioned; therefore, a new one had been drawn, after the old one had been crashed down from a bridge during a car chase. Its forms then became more solid and less slender. Oddly enough, the mid-Sixties go back to a look closer to the war time. After several ups and downs, the fashion of the Batmobile has been interpreted in many different ways from the Nineties to date, making it as good as impossible to recognize just one guideline. Staying within legendary sports cars that shaped the automotive history, even if they never existed, you cannot but mention the saga of Michel 18 Vaillant, the comic hero created by the French cartoonist Jean Graton. The first deeds of the popular pilot appeared in 1957, on Le Journal de Tintin. Afterwards, about 70 registers were published. Driving a great car, Vaillant is an ace that pursuits the highest and purest principles of sports with his activity. Although his events are just a figment of the imagination, this cartoon has helped to create a myth in the flesh: Alain Prost, who admitted in an interview that he became keen on the world of racings by reading also Michel Vaillant. the sign moak In Italy, between the Sixties and the Nineties, some “noir” comic strips, where the cars had a role of worthy co-stars, met with success. Diabolik’s Jaguar e-Type is without doubt unforgettable; inseparable companion of this hero –antihero born in 1962 by an idea of Angela Giussani from Milan (afterwards joined by her sister Luciana), who wanted to find a pastime for the many commuters of the station north of Milan (Angela lived close by). That way, an extremely clever character was born. Genius of crime and always hunt down by the police. Two things he could never renounce: his beautiful girlfriend Eva Kant and of course his fast and reliable car. Speaking of Eva Kant, times change and so do the cars. Few months after her release from the head office, Diabolik’s beautiful girlfriend already started to drive a Land Rover Evoque, showing not only skilfulness, but also an inborn sense of “glamour”. More humble, but anyway often decisive in important moments, is another icon of Italian cartoons of the eighties: the convertible beetle of Dylan Dog, born like his owner in 1986 by Tiziano Scalvi. White-coloured, with plate number DYD 666, in the 200th issue of the set, it is explained why the inquirer of nightmare took possession of his noisy vehicle. It happened after clearing up his first case (a bewitched doormat that nagged the some home owners). Instead of a fee, Dylan is offered this rather shabby car, which was just bothering the former owners. In some stories it happens to be destroyed due to several car chases, but it turns totally intact in the following story. Miracles of comic strips… COLPO ALLA RANGE ROVER A bit older than Dylan Dog and worldwide known is Martin Jacques Mystère, created by Alfredo Castelli (text) and Giancarlo Alessandrini (drawings) on April 1982. Nicknamed “Detective of the impossible”, he is specialized in investigations of unsolved mysteries. He usually drives a Ferrari Mondial, launched on the market just a few years before the first issue came out. Obviously, hits plate is unique and unmistakable: M.MYST. This is a guarantee that makes his car indestructible, or at least of the same material the Phoenix is made of: come back to life from the own ashes. Once again, if you would need it, we received a confirmation thanks to this quick excursus into the world of comics: dream and fact, imagination and concreteness; they are not contraries, but different sides of the same coin. With some philosophy we would say that nature imitates art and art imitates nature. Even in the motor world. 19 01/2011 A coffee with Fausto Arrighi by Gian Paolo Galloni The stars are up in the sky, not in a cup, but in Italy an excellent coffee can never miss at the end of a meal. We met Fausto Arrighi, director of the Michelin Guide Italy, who gave us the interesting point of view of an authorized personnel of coffee. Arrighi is certainly one of the most dreaded, but also most esteemed wine and food critic all over Italy. From the conversation we had with the director, you can understand how important coffee in the restaurant industry is. We invite our restaurateur friends and bar holders to carefully read this interview: it contains very interesting observations and very much good sense. What importance does coffee have in the Italian restaurant industry? I would say a lot. Just think about the fact that you can find a wide range of extraordinary, I would say unique coffee selection in many restaurants. Has the introduction of pads improved the coffee served in the big restaurant industry? Maybe it did not improved coffee itself, but certainly the hygiene standard, and for many restaurateurs the handiness. What does one appreciate most of a coffee? To taste a perfect coffee, many details make the difference and you can’t be regardless of them. The right amount, the creaminess, no bitter aftertaste, very important for those who drink it unsweetened, and not least, it has to be served in a cup that is warm just to the right point. Prerequisite for a perfect coffee is that a real professional makes it! 20 How do you prepare coffee at home? With the classic mocha pot. It’s a small ritual I will never give up. Is coffee drunk sweetened or unsweetened? Coffee is pleasure, I drink it rigorously without sugar, but I don’t sentence those who sweeten it, de gustibus… What do you think about lacing? They are old bar customs, typical of some Italian areas, above all in the North. Is it true that the best coffee is drunk in the South? Coffee is good everywhere. A good barman knows that coffee feels humidity very much and he has to act accordingly. I use to go a place where the coffee blend is prepared after having measured the humidity; they do this to always offer the best coffee to customers. In the South, coffee is a ritual. Coffee is always strong; usually it is drunk up and always served together with the classic cup of fresh water. Do you have an anecdote to tell? I drank my first coffee at a bar with my grandfather, who winked at me and asked if I wanted it lace. I didn’t know what it meant, but I said yes! With the first sip, a hot flash wrapped me and I turned as red as a tomato. Grandfather gave a loud laugh (I was just 10 years old). And in conclusion, is it true that in Italy you drink the best coffee of the world? Thinking about how we see the espresso in a small cup, undoubtedly. I have drunk horrible espressos all over the world. The concept of coffee is understood only by us, whilst if you want to drink filter coffee, you can find it everywhere. the sign moak Moak and surroundings. This is our story by M. G. «The honesty of our workers is our highest active. » Adriano Olivetti What you are going to read now is not only an entrepreneurial story, as far as fascinating, which purpose is the company success. What you are going to read now is above all the story of an adventure that has been going on for 40 years, a continual march towards a sole aim: quality. All begins with 40 square metres and a small 15 kg roasting machine. It is 1967 and Giovanni Spadola just came back to his hometown Modica, after a working experience at FIAT in Turin. Since he was a child, Giovanni has a passion: coffee. The most natural thing for an enterprising young man full of will like him is to convert this passion into a job. He has a room at his disposal, just next to his family house; he buys a Petroncini and some sack of green coffee. Everything is ready to start, just one thing is missing: the name. To pay homage to his town and as reference to the Arab culture that “invented” coffee, the choice falls on Moak. As far as this seems outlandish, it is in fact nothing but the way the Saracen called the County town: Mohac. Two people, Giovanni Spadola and a collaborator, work in the small coffee roasting plant and they manage to produce 3.500 kg of roasted coffee in the first year of operation. The work is hard, but rewarding, the orders increase, and so does the need for workforce and appropriate space. It is 1971 and Caffè Moak moves to a new base, still in Modica Alta, close to the old one. The new plant measures 100 sq m and in short time they buy a 30 kg Petroncini for production reasons and then a model able to roast up to 120 kg of green coffee. Few years later, a new stage starts for the company; indeed, it is 1978 when Giovanni Spadola decides to directly import the coffee he makes his blends with. His choice did not spring from reasons of economical convenience, but rather from the opportunity that this choice offers to directly intercept the best raw material in origin. This choice agrees with him, orders continue to increase, Moak coffee is quickly spreading over in Sicily and quality is recognized every day. The constant growth gives again rise to the need of a new base. The new structure is born in the late Seventies in Via Resistenza Partigiana. Offices, warehouse and production take up an area of 500 sq. The staff now consists of 10 people. A 240 kg Petroncini roasting machine is being introduced in the production department. We are in the “fabulous” Eighties, the Italian economy runs, well-being 21 01/2011 is more and more widespread, and Italy finds out that it is a modern and successful country. Moak strengthened its position in Sicily; it is massively active in every province, it does a “coffee you like”, as an advertising campaign says. Would they like it also beyond the Straits? You can’t but try. Even this time intuition is right. In short time, Moak manages to get into this new market with a careful and sound commercial operation, becoming soon one of the most active brands of the branch. Calabria is nothing but a solid foundation that leads to the southern Italy market, a traditionally very careful area regarding coffee quality. And a quality coffee cannot but be appreciated. So, a commercial net featuring agents and distributors covers all southern Italy, bringing an increase of orders that need a different and bigger throughput, in order to be dealt with. In 1990, the production line is completely renewed and the company’s complex is extended from 500 to 2500 sq m. 1994 is a crucial year for Moak. Alessandro Spadola, Giovanni’s first-born, joins the company; this is the sign of continuity and of an expansion project that wants to export the Moak quality beyond national borders, into a different time of the company we will have the pleasure to tell about in the next The Sign Moak issue. 22 the sign moak 23 01/2011 Moak forms. The cup by Marco Lentini and Sergio Iacono It is several years that Caffè Moak has been endowed with a department totally dedicated to the management and development of the company image and the coordinate design: for[me] Moak. A laboratory where to create and test alternative communication instruments, which are always perfectly ascribable to the Moak identity. The quality work done by for[me] Moak has also been recognized by the AIAP (Italian Design Association for Visual Communication), wanting Moak – first private company the body linked to - as partner in 2011. One of the most successful projects carried out by for[me] Moak is surely the cup Moak is distributing to its bars for about two years. The cup and saucers designed by for[me] Moak have been planned to comply at best a working instrument and communication means. Made of hard Feldspatica porcelain, form and dimension drawings have been studied so to allow a safe and easy stackability. The egglike bottom eases the preservation of coffee cream, while the ceramic thickness has been studied to hold the necessary heat, in order to bring out the espresso aroma. The company logo is reproduced in intrusion within the porcelain on one side of the cup, colourless and subsequently glazed together with the cup. This solution reduces the visual impact, but introduces the tactile one, involving an often overlooked sensory. Though, the most effective element is the handle. Of a square form with round holding hole, the handle is made, besides white, also with other two colours referring respectively to the products the cups are dedicated to. Therefore, there is the white handle for traditional products; the green handle for the decaffeinated; the platinum handle for the Aromatik products. 24 the sign moak Cappuccino and brioche an Italian story by Saro Giunta Vienna 1683. Georg Michaelowitz, a young man of Polish origins, opens up the probably first coffee shop. He was given coffee in payment for a service rendered to the Austrian army engaged to cope with the Turkish; service that later turned decisive for the success of the war in advantage of the Austrians. One day, a religious Italian, Friar Marco D’Aviano, came into Georg’s shop and the young man offered him a cup of that infusion that was still unknown to the most. The friar thought that the taste was too sour and he made the man add some milk to milden the taste. The result was so incredible that it became the most fashionable drink of Vienna in short time. To honour who invented, even if unconsciously, that drink, they called it Cappuccino, just like the religious order Marco D’Aviano belonged to. The cornetto, which very often accompanies the cappuccino, is of the same time and provenance. As the story goes, to celebrate the close shave from the Turkish troop’s siege, a Viennese confectioner gave sweet puff pastry the form of a moon standing out against the Ottoman flags. Thanks to this baking’s extraordinary deliciousness and maybe also to exorcize the fear the Turkish continued to do, even if beaten, the Viennese ate huge quantities of it, striking the confectioners rich. Both cappuccino and cornetto became popular in northern Italy and from here all over Italy during the Austro-Hungarian domination. And it is here in Italy they both reached their fame. Today, the match cappuccino and cornetto is a symbol of 25 01/2011 quality cappuccinos. The training includes both the choice of materials to be used and the techniques to be applied for the success of what for many people is the only way to start the day. More information about the training schedule can be found on the website www.caffemoak.com under the heading for[me] training. Italian food; the mastery of our barmen and confectioners has been able to lend these two protagonists of breakfast a quality level turning it to a reference point for the rest of the world. Mlab, on behalf of Caffè Moak, has been organizing some specialization courses foe barmen for some years, where the basic principles are provided to manage to serve high 26 the sign moak 27 the sign moak Donatella Finocchiaro, from Catania to Cannes’ red carpet by Marco Pederzoli Love cannot be commanded. You could start a biography of Donatella Fionocchiaro, actress of Catania already invested with many awards for her performances, that way. The path of reason, using a metaphor of Pascal, wanted her dressed up with a robe practicing law. She did it to the best of her abilities: in fact, she graduated in 1996, after attending Law faculty at the University of Catania. And it seemed as if the legal career would be natural. However, remaining with the philosopher Pascal, since there are reasons of the heart the mind does not know, Donatella continues to nourish a dream with belief, which in the end will become today’s wonderful reality: acting. On the same month of her graduation thesis, she takes part in the auditions of the Teatro Stabile in Catania, where she will be accepted shortly after. The thirty-one old, who was split between the apprenticeship as lawyer and screen tests, goes to a casting for the new film of Roberta Torre and become the protagonist of “Angela”. The film went round the world with screenings in many international festivals, after being successfully presented at the Cannes Festival. That girl will become Donatella Finocchiaro for everybody. And the footlights just went on: indeed, her working career continues with excellent directors, from Giuseppe Tornatore to Roberto Andò, from Marco Bellocchio to Mimmo Calopresti, from Edoardo Winspeare to Emanuele Crialese, who wanted her to be protagonist in his film “Terraferma” (Mainland) that came out this year. With regards to this latter production, she writes a nice review: “On a Mediterranean island, the twenty-year old fatherless Filippo lives with his mother Giulietta and his grandfather Ernesto, an old and indomitable fisherman who practices the sea law. While fishing, Filippo and Ernesto save a pregnant woman and her little child from drowning. In defiance of bureaucracy 29 01/2011 and finance, they decide to take care of them, at least until they will have the strength to pay for their own keep. Split between the management of spoilt holidaymakers and the poverty of a woman escaping from war, Filippo searches his own centre and a finally solid ground. Mainland is the third work Emanuele Crialese dedicates to the Sicilian Sea in a persisting aesthetic research started with “Respiro” (Breath) nine years before. Like Conrad, Crialese uses “a restless and at the same time changeable element” to tell men; in this case, a blue vision clung to the human and desperate view of displaced persons. Above, beneath and around the isle not identified on purpose, the director sees the sea like place of endless inner sensations. At the centre of his sailing, there is once again a family unit in tension towards elsewhere and beyond that sea, which invades the whole framing area, filling every space with water. Within its absolute pure expanse and along its regular pace cumbersome ferries move along that spit out tourists and echoes of the mainland; the one Donatella Fionocchiaro’s Giulietta yearns for herself and her son. Because that ungrateful sea killed her husband and has been unwilling to give fishes and miracles for too much time. One day, a black and lay Madonna comes from the same sea. Her country of origin makes her take a flight and the hosting country refuses her reception. 30 Timnit T’s Sara is the character standing literally “in the middle”. Corresponding with the same drama the social precariousness of the native family, compelled to live on an island and in a garage to give place to holidaymakers Beppe Fiorello’s designer dressed (and fake) Nino is devoted to, besides ethics and civic confinement. But if mainland Italy, exemplifies by three irritable students, decides to take the last ferryboat for a world full of false tolerance with no banks to lap against and land to, the archaic Italy of the fishermen and the burning sun immediately (re)acts with promptness to the cold rages of tragedy… In the rigours of form and execution, Crialese translated the wounds of immigration and migratory politics in film terms…”. If you need more credentials to prove Donatella’s skill, the successes of her filmography talk for her. Just to name some title of great success, you can mention Il fantasma di Corleone (The Ghost of Corleone) by Marco Amenta (2004), Se devo essere sincero (To Be honest) by Davide Ferrario (2004), Il regista di matrimoni ( The Wedding Director) by Marco Bellocchio (2006), L’abbuffata (The binge) by Mimmo Calopresti (2007), Baarìa by Giuseppe Tornatore (2009), Manuale D’amore 3 (Love Manual 3) by Giovanni Veronesi (2011) and of course the brand new Terraferma (Mainland). the sign moak 31 01/2011 Horeca, GDO, Vending products The experience and passion Moak uses in the creation of its coffee is summarized in the two lines of the Horeca channel: high quality channels addressed to the most authentic espresso market. Horeca deluxe The five Horeca Deluxe blends are created with the best Arabica and Robusta coffees. The high percentage of Arabica gives coffee a splendid flavour together with a right acidity, when in cup. The six Horeca Superior blends include some of the best Arabica and Robusta qualities. Moak created them for those who love solid and strong coffee. G.D.O. For those who do not want to renounce to high quality coffee, but do not want to go to a café, Moak made up some products dedicated to the classical mocha. The fine coffee qualities in the blends of this line are the most appropriate to be drunk with the family. Roasted and blended with the usual care Moak dedicates to his customers, G.D.O. presents a range of blends that are able to satisfy any need. Vending Moak Coffee capsules are the solution dedicated to caterers who would like to offer their customers aroma, flavour and full-bodied taste of the original Italian Espresso, without having to do important investments. Thanks to Moak coffee capsules, caterers can always offer a fresh product which is also easy to prepare. It takes just 15 seconds and few steps to offer a perfect espresso. Moak offers caterers a two groups Spinel espresso machine and four different blends that satisfy espresso coffee lovers. Moreover, Moak also provides excellent and secure assistance and constant maintenance. 32 the sign moak 01/2011 Watch closely. The Moak bean by Corrado Barone Exams never end, as the saying goes. Even a coffee bean has to pass very strict exams, before being part of one of our blends. All begins far away from here, in those countries where some berries grow on deep green plants with small leaves. First, the berries are green, but their colour turns soon in to red and reached a cherry-like colour, which shows their full ripeness. Picked by the expert hand of peasants, through processes that can be different depending on the place of origin, the seeds are extracted. These are the green coffee beans. After being divided into batches, they undergo a 34 short seasoning. From this moment on, several checks testing quality and value start for the bean. You need to know that every plantation, independently of the coffee quality it is cultivated for, produces a unique coffee bean in terms of taste and aromatic structure. This happens because the land the plantations grow on are fed by the neighbouring growing fruits; the essences and tastes of these fruits are absorbed by the plants, which transfer them to the beans. This makes sure that the choice of beans has to be taken according to the final taste you would like to create. Once you’ve chosen the coffee quality you want to buy, a sample of the processed batch will be sent to our laboratory. the sign moak Here, it will be checked for the first time and if the rigid quality standards dictated by the company are fulfilled, you proceed with the purchase. Then, coffee starts a long trip that can last up to a month across the seas in jute sacks in order for them to transpire. And just to make sure it would not be affected by damages caused by weather conditions or bad preservation after such a long trip, as soon as it arrives, it undergoes a further check that has to confirm the quality standards registered in the sample. If the bean passes the test also this time, our technicians manage to stock it within the bins in line for the roasting process – but we will talk about this elaborate and fascinating process in the next issue. 35 01/2011 The ammazzacaffè, a great Italian tradition by Dino della Casa In the aristocratic homes, it was a habit to go to a special room after diner, to smoke alone or more often in good company. Besides the cigar, the servants also used to bring one or more liqueurs to this room, which accompanied pleasant breaks while smoking and sweetened the mouth from the taste of coffee. Therefore, the so-called “ammazzacaffè” were born. During the years, they came out of the upper middle class villas to become a custom that is still very fashionable, especially after a lavish lunch or 36 the sign moak dinner. Therefore, obviously a real “ammazzacaffè” market is born, even with declinations that are different from each other, to satisfy every taste. The more traditionalists lean undoubtedly towards the bitters family a lot of known varieties belong to. As everyone knows, we talk about a flavoured liqueur, often enriched and embellished with a vegetable ingredient that characterizes its smell and some properties (it’s not rare to find healing herb infusions). Countless are those that can be mentioned: from Amaro Giuliani to Jägermeister, from Amaro Averna to Amaretto di Saronno, from Petrus to Cynar, from Kambusa Bonomelli to Fernet Branca up to Amaro Ramazzotti. Not to mention the always very appreciated handmade processings, where religious involvements are not missing (who has never heard of bitters produced by friar convents?) or old recipes passed down from generation to generation. An alternative to bitters is the Sambuca, star anise-flavoured liqueur that is subsequently flavoured with different herbs. The original recipe of this mix comes from the old Carthusian cookbooks. Sambuca’s base is the essential oils extracted from the steamed distillation of the star anise (and/or green anise) and fennel. These ingredients give the liqueur a strong scent of anise through distillation. It also contains white elderberry flower extracts, where the name comes from, as well as wild fennel, thyme, peppermint, gentian, etc. in some mixes. The extracted oils are then soaked and infused in pure alcohol; all added by a concentrated solution of sugar and other natural flavourings. An alternative to bitters and Sambuca is the brandy, which production technique was already known by the Babylonians and Egyptians, but was then abandoned by the Greeks and Romans before rising again around the X century, thanks to the Medical school of Salerno, which imported techniques and knowledge from the Arabs. Renowned distillates, such as Whisky, Cognac or Armagnac belong to this family. They, in turn, need to be aged in wooden barrels to follow a controlled production. The grappa’s, on the other hand, this just depends on the choice of the production company. Settling the mix in wooden barrels make sure the distillates enhance in flavours, highly appreciated by connoisseurs. Moreover, other liqueurs commonly used as “ammazzacaffè” and often homemade, such as limoncello (or limoncino in the northern regions of Italy), mirto (myrtle liqueur), nocino (walnut liqueur) and many other deserve a particular mention. Not herbs, but fruits of trees or shrubs are here the protagonists. Adequately prepared and infused in an alcoholic solution, even those are part of the Italian variety and tradition for an after coffee drink. 37 01/2011 Zonda and Huarya. Daughters of the Argentine breeze by Gian Paolo Galloni Zonda C12, the first Pagani car built by the workshop of San Cesario sul Panaro, was presented at the Geneva motor show in 1999. Zonda C12 has been planned, designed and developed by the workshop with passion and objectiveness, in order to express art and technology of the carbon and to emphasize the nature of the used materials. All this in respect of a concept of simple, light, aerodynamically downforced car in every condition, and with the promise to offer particular driving sensations at all speeds. A promise that has been fulfilled and provided by the very trim suspensions from the elastocinematik point of view, the good distribution of weights and the very low barycentre. Under the coat inspired by Mercedes C group Silver Arrows, the essence of an unmistakable wind lives, where art and science match to compose a unique, fascinating and dizzying symphony. Like the passion of those who fall in love, the melodic performance is born from the motor, increasing and daring more and more, till it explodes in a blue flare-up of four pipe exhausts. Other eight versions came after the Zonda C12; the last one in chronological order was the Zonda Tricolore in 2010 Pagani built in occasion of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Tricolour arrows, as a tribute to the country’s aerobatic team. Huarya, joining Zonda, appeared this year on the market 38 and already aroused huge interest and admiration both in the proper press and lovers of supercars. The study for this new car started in 2003, presentation year of the Zonda S Roadster. As you will remember, the early 2000 have been important for the supercar world. The care of the big car manufacturers contributed to the birth of extraordinary cars, such as Bugatti Veyron, Porsche GT, Ferrari Enzo, Mercedes McLaren SLR. This situation brought Horacio Pagani and his staff to different considerations regarding the future of Zonda and what could be a new Pagani. Since the original Zonda project dated back to the early Nineties, they decided to imagine a car that would be totally renewed in forms, dynamics, dimensions and technology. Huarya, even if having Zonda’s same family feeling, is completely new. The idea that motivated our research was to offer the sensation of a plane that is taking off. Huarya is the first car in the world with variable aerodynamics, thanks to the active front suspensions and four flaps, 2 at the front and 2 at the back, allowing an optimal counterbalance with a cx (penetration coefficient) and a variable cz (load towards the bottom) and a smaller frontal area. This allows having best road holding conditions in any tight spot. All this without losing the essence of their thought, or better follow Leonardo da Vinci’s philosophy of the Renaissance, who sees art and science walking together. The key of Renaissance has been the manual intellectuality, according to Horacio Pagani. the sign moak 39