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FOOD AND DRINK

How to make creamy Italian hot chocolate

Dense, creamy, velvety: Italian hot chocolate is the most comforting comfort food of all. Food writer Silvana Lanzetta shares her recipe for the perfect winter treat.

How to make creamy Italian hot chocolate
Make your hot chocolate the Italian way. Photo: Unsplash/American Heritage

If you have ever been in Italy in wintertime, you must have come across one of the most scrumptious hot drinks we have: dark, dense, creamy and extremely comforting, Italian hot chocolate is a must during these long and cold winter afternoons.

It’s one of the winter treats that I can’t pass up, one that reminds me of home and coziness more than anything else. But also one of the Italian traditions that is easiest to recreate outside Italy.

It can be bought in sachets from Italian delis as ready-to-prepare, just-pour-the-milk formula, but they are laden with additives and usually quite expensive for what they are. 

However, it is very easy and quick to make at home, with just a few ingredients that we all have in our cupboards.

Here’s the recipe for this deliciously smooth Italian hot chocolate.

Ingredients

  • 3 tsp cacao powder
  • 3 tsp sugar
  • Half tsp potato starch
  • 150 ml milk

Method

1. Mix all the dry ingredients and pass them through a fine sieve to eliminate lumps.

Put them in a small saucepan. Add a little milk, and stir well, with a wooden spoon, to make a thick paste. Add the rest of the milk little by little, making sure to stir well to get the milk absorbed before adding more.

2. Put the saucepan on medium heat. Stirring continuously, bring the milk to the boil. Lower the heat and let it bubble for a minute, stirring vigorously.

Serve in small teacups (not mugs).

Tips

You can drink your hot chocolate plain (it’s delicious as it is), it can be flavoured with a little cinnamon, you can add some whipped cream, or – my personal favourite – you can crush a couple of amaretto biscuits into crumbs and sprinkle them on top.

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For best results use good-quality cacao powder: avoid Nesquick and other instant powders. 

I find potato starch is the best thickener for the hot chocolate because it’s very light and doesn’t leave an aftertaste, but plain flour or cornflour can also be used.

If you find the hot chocolate to be too thick, reduce the amount of starch to a quarter of a teaspoon.

Silvana Lanzetta was born into a family of pasta makers from Naples and spent 17 years as a part-time apprentice in her grandmother’s pasta factory. She specializes in making pasta entirely by hand and runs regular classes and workshops in London.

Find out more at her website, Pastartist.com, including this recipe and others.

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FOOD AND DRINK

Do Italians really eat pasta every day?

Pasta is the foundation of Italian cuisine and Italians have a reputation for eating it nearly every day. But is this reality or myth?

Do Italians really eat pasta every day?

Pasta is the cornerstone of Italian cuisine and an essential staple of Italians’ diet, hence the popularity of the adage Toglietemi tutto ma non la pasta! (‘Take everything away from me except pasta’).

But there is a widespread belief among foreign nationals that people in the bel paese eat it every single day of the week. 

Is this reality or myth?

According to a survey from research platform YouGov Italia, ‘only’ 17 percent of Italians eat pasta every day or at least six days a week. 

The majority of Italians (37 percent) consume pasta two to three times a week, while 30 percent say they eat it four to five times a week. 

Finally, 8 percent eat pasta just once a week.

While the survey seems to disprove the claim that Italians generally eat pasta every day (only a minority does), does that mean that they are not as big pasta eaters as we may have originally thought?

Not really. 

Italians are still the leading pasta consumers in the world as the average person in the country eats some 23.1 kilograms of it every year (that’s nearly two kilograms a month).

READ ALSO: Ask an Italian: How do you sauce pasta properly?

For context, people in neighbouring France and Germany only consume 8.3 and 7.9 kg per capita a year, whereas the average American eats about 9 kg every year.

Further, yearly per capita consumption in the UK stands at an average of just 3.5 kg, according to a report from pasta maker Barilla.

So, while they may not have it every day, Italians do eat quite a lot of pasta over the course of a year. 

But how do they never get tired of it? 

One of the main reasons behind Italians’ unbreakable bond with the high-carb food is variety. 

Italians are extremely creative when it comes to pasta and they rarely eat the same dish twice in a row as they like to experiment with a wide range of recipes and sauces.

READ ALSO: Ten golden rules for cooking pasta like an Italian

Further, there are over 350 types of pasta in Italy, which means that you could potentially eat a different pasta shape almost every day of the year.

Another reason why most Italians have pasta multiple times a week is that they tend to eat it in moderation, steering well clear of potential carb overloads. 

While they may have a large, high-calorie pasta dish (for instance, lasagne or pasta al ragù) on weekends or on special occasions, people in the country generally go for lighter recipes and sauces on normal days, with portions generally going from 80 to 120 grams per person.

Also, Italians very rarely eat pasta twice a day, with the majority of people having it for lunch and then opting for a non-carb-based dish in the evening.

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