Tuesday, 13 January 2009

Papal approval for one of my greatest weaknesses!


Thanks to A Catholic Cappuccino, Please! for the information on the history of the cappuccino coffee.

On April 27, 2003, Pope John Paul beatified Padre Marco d'Aviano, a 17th-century friar credited with halting a Muslim invasion of Europe and in the process discovering the frothy coffee-drink cappuccino.
History books also show that with a vast Ottoman Turk army beating a path to Vienna in 1683, d'Aviano was sent by the then-pope to unite the outnumbered Christian troops, spurring them to victory. As the Turks fled, legend has it they left behind sacks of coffee, which the Christians found too bitter, so they sweetened it with honey and milk. The drink, now supped by millions around the world, was called cappuccino after the Capuchin order of monks to which d'Aviano belonged.


I shan't feel quite so self-indulgent as I sit and enjoy my cappuccino now I know a little of the history of the drink. It's a very Catholic drink, after all!

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