August 3, 2007

Greek Frappé (recipe)

I first learnt about Greek Frappés on a travel show. The picture that was painted of leisurely camaraderie, united by a cold iced coffee on a sunny day was one that triggered every romantic bone in my body 🙂 Curious to learn more I consulted the web and discovered that this ‘tradition’ is a relatively new one with a rather amusing ‘birth’

From Wikipedia:
Frappé dates back to the 1957 International Trade Fair in Thessaloniki. The representative of the Nestlé company, Yannis Dritsas, was exhibiting a new product for children, a chocolate beverage produced instantly by mixing it with milk and shaking it in a shaker. Dritsas’ employee Dimitris Vakondios was looking for a way to have his usual instant coffee during his break but he could not find any hot water, so he mixed the coffee with cold water and a shaker, creating the first frappé coffee.

This improvised experiment established this popular Greek beverage. Frappé has been marketed chiefly by Nestlé and has been a popular drink in Greece. More recently, Kraft, under the Jacobs label, have launched their own brand of frappé. Frappé has been called the national coffee of Greece, and is available at virtually all cafes, where it is typically served with a glass of water. Frappé is also popular among students and workers since its caffeine content helps to stave off fatigue.

One of the things that I really enjoy about these frappés is that they are really easy on my stomach, normally coffee and I do not go together 🙂

Greek Frappe
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Serving Size: 1

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon rounded instant coffee
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 cup or more cold water
1/4 cup evaporated milk

Directions:

1. Place the coffee, sugar and one-fourth cup water in a shaker, jar or blender. Cover and shake well for 30 seconds, or blend for 10 seconds in the blender, to produce a thick foam.

2. Slowly pour the coffee mixture down the sides into a tall (14-ounce) glass half-filled with ice. Add the milk, pouring down the side of the glass (so as not to dispel the foam), and top off with about one-fourth to one-third cup cold water to fill the glass.