Frappe Nation - Tapa dura

The frappe is an answer to modern life's demands and Greek cafe/agora social habits, Vivian Constantinopoulos and Daniel Young point out in their new bilingual gift book Frappe Nation. "Conceived at a time when Greece was looking ahead to a better life, the convenience and accessibility of frappe provided an instantaneous taste of the future," they write. Frappe Nation reveals that it was in the late 1950s that the coffee was born - by accident - out of instant Nescafe coffee that is predisposed to frothing and a need for something cool and potent. Leading up to the frappe's birth, the nicely laid-out book digs into the history of Ancient Greek conversation, and the tale of coffee's arrival in Greece. The book is vacuum-packed with coffee facts and quotes from coffee professionals as well as hipsters ranging from actor/director Renos Haralambides to our own funnyman Brian Church. The book not only explains why coffee is more expensive in Greece than elsewhere, how London's first cafe was Greek and when Turkish coffee became Elliniko (Greek), but it also radiates out to discuss actress/politician Melina Mercouri as a female role-model, the popularity of Asia Minor cuisine and student-dating practices. There are profiles of over 20 Greek cafes, including a few remaining old gems. It's a smooth read. For instance, in describing a pick-me-up, Frappe Nation asserts: "The distance between glum silence and spirited chattiness can sometimes be measured by the length of a straw." The coffee-table book avoids overfrothing though, grounding itself in personal stories, like that of one frappe rebel. "Yiota Potamiti, who grew up in Patras and now lives in Rhodes, remembers secretly drinking frappes at home as a 16-year-old. She would close her bedroom door and quietly mix them with the instant coffee, sugar and blue shaker she hid under her bed. She didn't use ice cubes, fearing the noise might alert her parents." --Athens News, 1 September 2006

For their frothy coffee endeavor, the authors talked to hundreds of frappe fans, ranging from cafe owners to journalists and artists and consulted a number of experts in the fields of Classical Greek, Modern Greek studies, mass media, sociology and food scientists. What did they come up with? Among other things, that frappe made its first appearance in public at the Thessaloniki International Fair, when a Nestle sales representative picked up a shaker and replaced cocoa with coffee during a product demonstration. That one frappe equals four espressos - when prepared with two level tablespoons. In this lively edition, the authors examine the various facets of coffee consumption, discussing the history of Greek cafe culture beginning in the 19th century, the history of coffee in this country, the development of the instant version, how coffee travels, how it becomes a symbol of home away from home for the diaspora and how a no-fuss frappe survives against the Freddocinos of this world. There are portraits of landmark coffeehouses around Greece and dreamy spots for the perfect frappe: from the conviviality of Kafandaris, established in 1922 in Thessaloniki, to the romance of Veranda, situated in Myconos s Little Venice. More than a book on coffee and its lovers, Frappe Nation captures the modern Greek lifestyle spirit. --Katerimerini English Edition, 10 October 2006

In Frappe Nation, Vivian Constantinopoulos and Daniel Young use Frappe the cold whipped instant coffee that is the most popular coffee in Greece as an occasion for an unusual touristic-historical-sociological tour of Greece. Excellent photographs taken in cafés, on sidewalks and in crowded city squares where people of all kinds enjoy their coffee record details of the place and its customs, mapping an entire country. They map its everyday culture, focusing on the coffee break the pause in the rhythm, the passage from ordinary life to talking about life. The very ritual of making Frappé, described extensively in the book, says a lot about the make-up of this country. A handsome volume that offers a novel take on contemporary Greece. --Ithaca Online, December 2006

Frappe Nation is an exploration and celebration of frappe, the sensationally frothy iced coffee that is a symbol of idyllic summers in Greece. This illustrated travelogue of the Greek cafe landscape begins in Athens and crisscrosses the cities and islands of Greece and the Greek diaspora, from Corfu to Rhodes, Thessaloniki to Chania, Mykonos to Kos, and even London to Melbourne. Along the way, the authors investigate the bond between modern Greeks and their national drink, a special relationship rooted in an ancestral thirst for public dialogue and interaction. Interspersed throughout the text are boxes profiling distinctive cafes, with photos and anecdotes of the characters who make these places so special.