That, my friend, is coffee…the wine of Islam (metaphorically speaking of course).

I will make it a point to look you up next time. Thanks for the tip!

Jim

There will be at least two more upscale caffes opening in the next year or two. Your assumption that you would find good espresso here because of the Italian American community is understandable, but ultimately and tragically mistaken. I’ve had my worst espressos in the various “Little Italies” in the American Northeast. Ironic, no?

I despise Starbucks coffee. I taste ashes in it.

In Umbria potato gnocchi are rarely made with eggs, but if you are going to add onion bits, an egg is a good idea. Semolina gnocchi don’t have eggs, either, and most polenta ones don’t.

I am making egg free angel hair tomorrow for a sauce that doesn’t taste right with egg pasta. It is, however, part of a meal so complicated that in the end making the pasta will be child’s play.

Your comment on artisan coffee pricing is interesting. I think your perception is the same as most American consumers, but the perception doesn’t match reality in the U.S.; maybe it does in Italy.

As an artisan roaster, I recently went to our supermarket to compare coffee prices to mine. What I found surprised me. Everyday “premium” coffees such as Starbucks were slightly more expensive than mine (my average price is 10-something dollars, theirs is pushing 13). Illy here is $12.99 for a 8.8 ounce tin (about 230 gram), so about $24 per pound. My most expensive espresso is $14.

Time to go gather some eggs for gnocchi.

If Illy is too pricey for the average Giuseppe, imagine artisan coffee. Salaries are low here and prices are high.

Gnocchi would be OK for putting spring onions in the pasta. The rest, I don’t think so. It is also the time of fresh garlic which has a very different taste. Of course any stuffed pasta can have anything in the stuffing.

It is a terrible thing to sacrifice the texture of pasta in order to put something in it. Such pleasure, that slick and sturdy bite!

Dr. Illy, who passed on in February, certainly did a lot to advance the science of coffee generally, and espresso in particular. We owe him a debt of gratitude.

But as in any other field, the body of knowledge grows. While I enjoy Illy cafe, I find it is not to the level of artisan roasting (admittedly a rarified group among coffee consumers) in the US. Does Italy have a similar “craft roast” evolution happening?

So on the topic of pasta, spring onions are in season now, and I find myself wondering if spring onions would make a tasty pasta? I find many recipes for spring onions *on* pasta, but none with spring onions *in* pasta, i.e., incorporated to the dough. What do you think about that?

I thought there might not be enough bacon in your recipe! Way too much milk for so little bacon, anyway.

I think you ought to hang out with the pasta cookers and pick up some nice saucy tips and we should hang out with you and see how to refine our caffeine doses.