It was 1987, Madonna had short, peroxide blond hair and she was telling her Dad in song and dance that her poor but fantastic boyfriend, the one her widower-father-who-raised-her-by-himself had warned her all about, had gotten her pregnant. You of course remember her t-shirt (if you don't or were not even born in the fabulous Eighties, I will pretend I am not at all jealous and checking my crow's feet right this minute and suggest you watch the link above for some real pop culture history) and how it boosted Italians' reputation worldwide. Now of course I could confirm or deny this statement since I happen to be married to an Italian, but I am a lady and this is a food blog, so I will abstain from this kind of information.
I can however vouch that when it comes to making a cup of hot chocolate, Italians do do it better.
But I must digress and explain a few things.
First of all, in Italy you go to a bar to have hot chocolate. An Italian bar being a very different concept than a bar pretty much anywhere else in the world. It certainly serves all sorts of alcoholic beverages, but it is first and foremost a coffee sanctuary, the place where the average Italian has his/her breakfast, traditionally a coffee with a brioche (an Italianized version of a croissant). But don't think for a second you can go in and just order a coffee. This action requires expertise. The coffee can be anything from a caffé espresso, ristretto (a concentrated espresso for those who do not like watery and weak espresso, hah!), lungo (a watered down version of espresso for those who don't like strong and creamy espresso), decaffeinato, americano (a large cup of black coffee, just like those Americans are always drinking in movies), macchiato (an espresso with a small drop of frothy milk), marocchino (a sort of miniature cappuccino in a small cup with a sprinkle of unsweetened cocoa powder beneath the frothy milk and another on top), corretto (for those who need a shot of grappa/acquavite in their coffee to get going), d'orzo (barley coffee, for healthnuts and people with gastiritis or other ailments who just cannot kick the habit), cappucino, cappucino decaffeinato, shakerato (the Italian version of ice coffee, an espresso shaken with sugar and often a dash of coffee liquer served in a martini glass) or a latte macchiato (a large glass of warm frothy milk with an espresso into it). While I am doing this, I will go as far as to tell you that if you are Italian, you never order cappucino after 12pm (unless you are having a late breakfast after a night out on the town) and you do not sprinkle cinnamon (cocoa powder is allowed) or put whipped cream on your cappucino .
