Bicerin

The decadent Torinese espresso and melted chocolate drink

Caffè culture in Torino goes back centuries, predating the famous Belle Epoque bars and coffee houses tucked inside the city’s grand collanades. Arguably the crowning jewel of them all is Caffè al Bicerin which opened in 1763 by Giusseppe Dentis, a man famous for his creative and refreshing drinks.

What made this place extra special was the fact that it was managed solely by women, and while caffès and bars were not the place for ladies to frequent unaccompanied in those days, Caffe al Bicerin was the exception. Located across the small square from the Sanctuario della Madonna Consolata, the cafe was the perfect place for ladies to meet unencumbered by men.

Sanctuario della Madonna Consolata - Torino

It was the ladies meeting spot after church services, and was here in the early 19th Century that the iconic Torinese espresso and melted chocolate drink was invented.

Bicerin is a surprisingly simple and yet mind-blowingly delicious blend of dark chocolate melted with a touch of cream and milk, poured hot over a freshly brewed espresso and topped with frothy hot milk. Think the best hot chocolate you’ve ever had mixed with a perfect cappuccino.

The precursor to Bicerin is actually the Bavareisa, an 18th Century drink with three classic ingredients: coffee, chocolate and creamy milk sweetened with syrup, served in a tall glass. The Bavareisa could be ordered three ways:

pur e fiur - coffee and milk (as in a modern cappuccino)

pur e barba - coffee and chocolate

‘n poc ‘d tut - a bit of everything.

The latter version was the most popular, and in 1843 a man named Calosso Contradaiolo della Dora Grossa had the idea of ​​applying a handle to wine glasses for Bicerin, which is actually where the name comes from, the term ‘bicerin’ being dialect for ‘small glass’

Supposedly Ernest Hemingway listed the Bicerin coffee drink among the 100 things in the world that he would save. Other famous champions of the drink include Alexander Dumas, Picasso and Umberto Eco.

“… I had gone as far as one of the legendary places of Turin at the time. Dressed as a Jesuit, and enjoying the amazement I aroused with malice, I went to Caffè Al Bicerin, near the Consolata, to take that glass, which smelled of milk, cocoa, coffee and other aromas. I still didn’t know that even Alexandre Dumas, one of my heroes, would have written about the bicerin a few years later, but in the course of two or three raids in that magical place I had learned all about that nectar …” The Prague Cemetary, Umberto Eco

Preparing the ‘nectar’ of Bicerin is all about getting your ingredients ready and then assembling right before serving.

Many Torinese insist on not stirring the layers of coffee, chocolate and milk but rather sipping in a way that allows all the flavors to combine on the palate. I personally like to make the chocolate a bit on the thicker side, similar to the other famous Italian melted chocolate at Florian in Venezia, so as romantic as that may sound, unless the chocolate mixture is made thinner, a good stir before sipping is the way to go.

THE RECIPE: