Cafezinho
A small, strong, very sweet black coffee, served piping hot in a tiny cup. Brazil's quintessential social drink: offered upon a visitor's arrival, drunk standing at the counter, served at the end of every meal.
A small, strong, very sweet black coffee, served piping hot in a tiny cup. Brazil's quintessential social drink: offered upon a visitor's arrival, drunk standing at the counter, served at the end of every meal.
Ah, the cafezinho! It is the soul of Brazil in a cup the size of a thimble. In my newsrooms, we drank dozens a day, burning hot and excessively sweet, to keep going until the paper went to press. It is strained through a cloth filter, the water is sweetened before the grounds are even added — that is the secret — and it is served so hot you have to blow on it. Refusing a cafezinho to a Brazilian, my friend, is almost an insult.
- •Ground coffee (dark-roasted Brazilian bean) — generously (base)
- •Water — according to number of cups (infusion)
- •Sugar — abundant (characteristic sweetness)
Cafezinho
A small, strong, very sweet black coffee, served piping hot in a tiny cup. Brazil's quintessential social drink: offered upon a visitor's arrival, drunk standing at the counter, served at the end of every meal.
Why this dish? Coffee made the wealth of Chateaubriand's Brazil and fueled the economy he commented on in his Diários Associados. Small, very sweet, served at all hours, cafezinho punctuated the late nights at the newsrooms and the endless conversations where this journalist wove his power.
Ah, the cafezinho! It is the soul of Brazil in a cup the size of a thimble. In my newsrooms, we drank dozens a day, burning hot and excessively sweet, to keep going until the paper went to press. It is strained through a cloth filter, the water is sweetened before the grounds are even added — that is the secret — and it is served so hot you have to blow on it. Refusing a cafezinho to a Brazilian, my friend, is almost an insult.
Ingredients (period version)
- Ground coffee (dark-roasted Brazilian bean) — generously (base)
- Water — according to number of cups (infusion)
- Sugar — abundant (characteristic sweetness)
Ingredients
- Dark roast ground coffee — 4 heaping tablespoons (aromatic base)
- Water — 500 ml (infusion)
- Sugar — 3 to 4 tablespoons (to taste) (sweetness)
Method
- Bring water to a simmer (do not boil vigorously) in a small saucepan.
- Add sugar directly to the hot water and stir to dissolve.
- Remove from heat, add ground coffee, stir, and let steep for 2 to 3 minutes.
- Strain through a cloth filter (coador) or paper filter, pressing gently.
- Serve immediately, piping hot, in very small cups.
How it was made : In the 20th century, Brazil was the world's largest coffee producer, a pillar of its economy (the 'coffee with milk policy' dominated the Republic). Cafezinho was traditionally prepared by infusion filtered through a cloth coador, with generous sweetening added to the water itself. A democratic drink, offered everywhere, from fazendas to big-city newsrooms.
The contemporary twist : Serve the cafezinho with a square of dark chocolate and an orange zest — a nod to Brazil's two other major export crops.
Sources : Luís da Câmara Cascudo, História da Alimentação no Brasil, 1967 · Sérgio Buarque de Holanda, Raízes do Brasil, 1936
Assis Chateaubriand · Charactorium
