(* Clarification from my wonderful Tia Lisi:
Mom and I were just perusing your blog. just a couple of points of clarification. Cafe Bustelo is cuban coffee, not Italian. also we don't usually use condensed milk...we use either regular or evaporated. The "experts" make a "pumita" by steaming the milk so its nice and foamy. me alegro mucho que esten disfrutando las tacitas de cafe!*keep this in mind as you read :-) sorry!)
My husband is half Cuban. His grandparents are Cuban refugees who've been living in this free country for over 40 years. They had a wonderful life in Cuba: an hacienda, careers, extended family, earth that belonged to them and someday to their children. All that changed with the rising power of Fidel. They brought with them few possessions but many memories, traditions and stories.
A few months after Naphtali and I got married a package arrived for us...at the wrong house. Abuela had sent it to the only address of ours she had but we had recently moved. Thanks to sweet retired truck driver Lloyd, we got our packaged. Lloyd is one of those guys who has just a caring heart and happens to be married to the funniest polish woman I've ever known. Lloyd has an illegal CV radio in his house so he can listen to what the Cops are doing. :-) Anyway, Lloyd called us and told us we had a couple packages. One of which was from Abuela which held something invaluable.
She had given us a set of six espresso cups and saucers. She gave us this precious set which she had brought with her to the United States so many years ago when fleeing her mother land. Naph and I haven't used them since we got them because we've been too nervous but today that changed. We made cuban coffee and used these heirlooms. It was delightful!
My sweet man, who I think I shall dub my Rock Star from here on out (we'll toy around with the names..), will be making me a LEGIT blog at some point and we'll transfer all this over there along with, hopefully, a story about these cups..I have to get with Abuela on that one :-).
So in the meantime, if you want to know how to make a "cortadito", or "small one."Here is how you do it.
First a "cortadito" is espresso made with a percolator and then mixed with sweet and condensed milk...which we didn't have any of so we improvised. It was still ever so tasty.
You will need: a cuban coffee maker or percolator, good fine espresso coffee, water, patience, cups that make you feel nostalgic, sweet and condensed milk or 1/2 & 1/2 or whole milk which we used today, sugar-preferably as close to sugar in the raw that you can get (if you are using S & C milk you won't need sugar), and time to enjoy this piece of heaven.
First get a good espresso coffee. We are partial to Cafe Bustelo which is delicious and finely ground, 100% italian coffee
.
Then you pack it into the base of the percolator.
Fill the base of the percolator with water. It should have level marks on it so take it to the highest one if you want a good 4-6 small cups out of it.
Then put the coffee in the base of the percolator.
Screw the to of the percolator on (I know these are in depth but I just got a new camera and I am obsessed...bear with me :-))
Put the stove on Medium:
Let it percolate:
Isn't it beautiful?!
Get out your espresso cups:
Aren't they beautiful?
Add the milk:
And Sugar:
Pour the Coffee:
Then all you need to do next is marry a Cuban:
And enjoy!
