It was a bit difficult to nod off last night – it was suggested that I may have had too much coffee during the day… well after all it was Sugar High Friday and I was faithfully exploring coffee sweets. Indeed I was so dedicated I am only blogging about it a day later.

So here is a guide to coffee in South-East Sicily as lived from breakfast to until 2am, spanning the 12th and 13th of August, 2005.

Curiously the first taste of coffee is not inspired by South-East Sicily but by Cyprus and Greece. It’s a classic frappe that can be had in a million different ways in the cafes of both countries. You can have it strong, medium, sweet, a bit sweet, a bit bitter, miso-miso (half milk, half water), olo gala (all milk), frothy, thickly frothy. The more complicated and detailed your order to the bewildered waiter the more your social standing grows.

For something so complicated to order its very easy to make. Just instant coffee and sugar with a bit of water. Mix to create the froth. The quantity of water and time of mixing will lead to a more or less consistent frothiness – ranging from very frothy to almost cream-like. Then add water or milk, ice (essential), sit back, open the backgammon, and forget your worries.

  

After you have relaxed sufficiently move on to the beach for a bit of exercise. However, in case you’ve relaxed too much a caffe freddo will bring you up to speed. This is simply a shot of espresso (kept in the fridge) with some liquid sugar cane. Most houses keep a little bottle in the fridge of caffe freddo which they keep topping up with whatever is left from the normal coffee produced each day. Another alternative is of course the coffee granita.

  

After lunch a normal espresso is the general rule of thumb, followed (and this had always impressed me) by a siesta. You would think that a strong coffee would prevent that from happening but the sun and the absolute piece that takes over a town after 2pm prevents that from happening.

Before long (i.e. after 2-3 hours) one is up and may be feeling a bit peckish. A pezzo duro will soon make sure you are both refreshed from the heat and more sugar. A pezzo duro is hard ice cream and in this case we had a terrine-style cake, with coffee, hazelnut, vanilla, and chocolate.

By this time the sun is setting and things are beginning to relax once more as people get ready for the night time.

Around 12am last night we took this picture sitting behind the Torre Cabrera in Pozzallo before going on to get an ice cream with coffee and hazelnut. Of course it was so hot that the ice cream practically melted by the time we took the picture!

  

So there you have it – a day of coffee. No need to mention that I am having none today. By the way, all through the day the mail was faithfully clocking in the entries from all over of which I will have a summary up tomorrow morning - after a morning frappe that is.