No Barista Can Do It Better!
Aug 07, 2006 | From the kitchen of Rose
i promised last posting to reveal the favorite use of air in the “food world” and here it is: cappuccino! (yes it’s a beverage but as you may remember from one of my first postings, coffee is the most important thing to “pass the portals of my lips.” and for me, it’s more than a beverage—it’s my daily breakfast.
as i reflect on my restaurant and home cooking experiences over the past 40 years i am struck by the fact that in the beginning most if not all of the best dishes had to be made by a chef. gradually this changed as the best ingredients became available to the home cook and more recently the best equipment as well. it’s a sad irony that people seem to be cooking less at home now that they could make the most delicious and nutritious dishes to their own taste. i honestly think my husband is torn between envying the control i have over what we eat and enjoying almost all of it!
coffee has been the last bastion of “better consumed out.” it was never as good at home because cafés have a faster turnover and for coffee, freshly roasted and ground is an imperative. then along cake illy and nespresso with stunning and efficient hi-tech machines and equally if not more important, high quality coffee vacuum sealed in individual packages. but i still had to go OUT for a good cappuccino. two guys from the UK came up with aerolatte—a terrific battery operated foaming device so effective it was immediately knocked off with lower quality by another major company. the original model was far better and easier to use than the foaming devices on even the most expensive cappuccino machines because, for one thing, the aerolatte did not introduce any steam into the coffee during the foaming process.
my one problem with this hand-held device was that it necessitated my running back and forth between the microwave to heat the milk, the coffee maker, and back to the microwave to retrieve the milk and foam it before the coffee cooled. not enough calories burned to counteract the teaspoon of sugar i added but still….agitation was not the way i wanted to start the morning (foaming is another thing.)
finally nespresso introduced the foamer of my dreams: the aeorccino. it makes foaming the milk so perfect and so easy that it has served to increase my coffee consumption by double. it is a stunning stainless steel little ‘pot’ with non-stick lining and a two magnetic little devices—one a coil which fits on the bottom to foam milk for cappuccino and the other that fits onto the top for making latte. the pot sits on a small plastic base that plugs into an electric outlet. (my base was a little wobbly so i stuck a few small layers of masking tape under it on one side to steady it and it has stayed securely in place for months.)
to become the barrister barista of your dreams, you simply pour milk (i use whole milk but 2% is fine too) up to the mark, cover it, press the button, and in seconds have perfectly foamed milk—the thickest finest foam ever.
caffeine has little to no effect on me but i’m happy to report that both illy and nespresso produce decaf pods that are as delicious as the caffeinated variety.
yes, the aeroccino may seem expensive at $80, but it pays for itself in a matter of weeks when you consider the price of ordering cappuccino out!
to view the aeroccino go to www.nespresso.com and select all accessories.
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Melida
04/01/2010 08:08 PM
Hey , Happy Fool's Day!!
An elderly widow and widower were dating for about five years. The man finally decided to ask her to marry. She immediately said "yes".
The next morning when he awoke, he couldn't remember what her answer was! "Was she happy? I think so, wait, no, she looked at me funny..."
After about an hour of trying to remember to no avail, he gave her a call. Embarrassed, he admitted that he didn't remember her answer to the marriage proposal.
"Oh," she said, "I'm so glad you called. I remembered saying 'yes' to someone, but I couldn't remember who it was."
Happy April Fool's Day!
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Hector
12/14/2008 12:08 PM
contrary to all expectations and beliefs, need to report that nespresso is now making a 2 cup aeroccino! it looks like a supersized version but it still has the beautiful mirror stainless steel finish.
it can be the perfect solution for the social coffee people, really... coffee is best enjoyed with company!
you may be guessing right that I have no plans to get this new size because.... well, I practically wrote a new users manual on how to use the aeroccino for more then 1 cappuccino.
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Hector
05/25/2007 06:39 PM
Amy, everything that Rose Levy has published is AMAZING. =)
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Amy
05/25/2007 06:24 PM
Hector: I've never posted a comment anywhere before, but to get a response within minutes is amazing. Many thanks for your advice.
--Amy
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Hector
05/24/2007 05:54 PM
Amy, the Nespresso Aeroccino makes enough milk and foam for one cup of capuccino. Very little, really.
I would coagulate at the bottom of the machine, even non fat milk leaves you a coagulated streak on the bottom.
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Amy
05/24/2007 05:28 PM
I'm a hot chocolate fanatic. (Wish Swiss Miss would disappear--cocoa made without milk is just horrible). Anyway, my question is, "Could I use this machine to make hot chocolate? " I'm sure it's possible to steam the milk and then stir it into a cup of powdered cocoa, but what if you use shaved chocolate--of the Jaques Torres variety? Can you put the chocolate into the Nespresso, or would it coagulate at the bottom of the machine?
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Andrew
04/04/2007 08:12 AM
Rose -
Happy to help. Yes, you do need to adapt to your particular microwave, or foaming is an issue. Actually, the design of these things could be improved, so that there was enough room to allow for more foaming before making a mess of things, since by the time the foam reaches the top of the container in my mw, the milk is just barely hot enough, and could be hotter. Sometimes I let it deflate a bit, then hit it for another 5 ro 10 secs, which does the trick.
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Rose
04/01/2007 09:38 AM
andrew, you're a better man than i am--woops--that won't work--i'm not a man at all! (just being silly) luckily i read your posting before my morning coffee because i learned something very useful from you. i have an aerolatte which was one of the first hand foamers out there and more effective than others i've tried. i've seen them demoed and read the instructions and nowhere did it say it could foam cold so it didn't occur to me to try that. (now by the way i'll be able to use it for small quantities of whipped cream which is the most exciting part!)
what's interesting and funny, is that once the cold milk was beautifully foamed, i put it in the microwave for the usual 45 seconds it takes to heat the milk prefoaming and after 35 seconds i chance to look at it and the foam was doming over the top of the container and then deflated! i was able to REfoam it but realized that when foamed it is able to heat much faster so that 45 seconds probaly needs to be cut to 20!
thanks for the great idea.---oh--you did say 30 seconds--but i'll start with less as each microwave varies. glad it didn't occur to me that this might have been an april fool's joke!
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Andrew
04/01/2007 06:58 AM
I don't know about the aeroccino, but the $20 milk frothers made by Bodum and others also makes perfect foam for lattes, at a lot lower price point. (In fact, this device is really just a rebranded 1-cup coffee press, which you might already have around.)
You just use cold whole or 2% milk, plunge it a few times to produce the foam, pop the glass container in the microwave for about 30 sec, and Bob's your uncle.
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Rose
03/29/2007 10:26 PM
i'll have to try that--great tip!
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Hector
03/22/2007 04:43 PM
I've just found out, to my taste, that if you cool your Aeroccino in the refrigerator prior to using it, the foam comes out marvelous...... Didn't one time a barista say that milk needs to be really cold before frothing? There you have it. I use fat-free fresh milk (cold also).
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Anonymous
03/22/2007 10:18 AM
I must have one today!! Cant wait.
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Rose
12/14/2006 05:29 PM
glad you agree! thanks for the feedback.
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Hector Wong
12/14/2006 05:16 PM
TOTALLY, the Nespresso Aeroccino is one of those REALLY USEFUL NEW THING for home espresso making. I have a Francis Francis espresso machine which makes GREAT espresso and great frothin. But with the Aeroccino is a lot more convenient, easy to do, quick, clean, not messy at all. My roommate bought two Aeroccinos, one he sent to his family in Italy!!!!!
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Rose
08/12/2006 02:45 PM
interesting point! (love that hal!)
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Andrew
08/12/2006 06:42 AM
I've never liked the foam -- and I never understood the point. I've been slowly working my way through Harold McGee's book On Food and Cooking, and he makes the excellent point that it serves to keep the drink from cooling off too quickly, as well as to prevent a skin from forming.
Now I have a reason to learn to tolerate the foam!
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Rose
08/08/2006 04:21 PM
when i order capuccino out i always ask for it mostly dry i love the foam so much. in seattle i say mostly dry because they understand and don't fill it up with the liquid portion!
interestingly, i've found with this device that the foam is as thick using whole milk.
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Alison
08/08/2006 04:01 PM
I worked for a short time making coffee and one of more interesting things I learned is that 2% or fat free compared to whole milk makes for better and thicker foam. I absolutely love the foam and there is never enough of it for me.
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Rose
08/07/2006 03:22 PM
point well taken (though probably a barrister couldn't necessarily do it better either!)
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Jasper
08/07/2006 01:24 PM
I wish this tool were all it takes to become a barrister. Unfortunately, it takes a great deal of schooling...
A barrister is an attorney. You meant "barista".
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