NAPLES, Italy: A shot of dark, velvety coffee is more than just a quick caffeine hit: Italy’s espresso is a prized social and cultural ritual the country considers a national heritage worthy of Unesco status.
Italians knock back some 30 million espressos a day, from Venice to Sicily, in porcelain cups or little glasses, with or without a splash of milk — and see each one as a gesture of friendship.
“The espresso is an excuse to tell a friend you care,” says Massimiliano Rosati, owner of the Gambrinus cafe in Naples, which helped prepare the bid for a place on the UN’s list of the world’s intangible heritage.
“They are drunk every day, at any hour. It’s a shared moment, a magical moment,” he told AFP.
The gleaming machine behind the…
