Summer Drinks: Greek Frappe
The story that I heard while living in Greece was that, in 1957, Nestle's was marketing an instant chocolate milk drink to the Greek market and giving away free cocktail shakers. This gave one of their Greek executives an idea on how to penetrate the Greek market with Nestle's instant coffee: Ice, water, sugar and instant coffee, shaken not stirred.
They had a hit. It's the national drink of Greece, some say. I haven't found anyone in town who imports the Greek Nestle's instant but, no problem, as I've found two excellent substitutes, readily available at Fiesta and other fine grocery stores catering to the Latin American market.
Look for Nestle's Dolca or Nestle's Clasico instant coffees. Dolca is preferred as it contains caramelized sugar and has a richer taste.
Here's the recipe (you can use a cocktail shaker, a milk frother or a blender....I prefer the blender):
2 tablespoons Nestle's Dolca (or to taste)
1 cup cold water
10 ice cubes
1/2 cup sugar (or to taste)
Shake or whip the until you get a thick foam. Pour into a glass and watch as the coffee slowly separates from the foam. The colors, man, the colors!
O gafes enai kalos! Oraio to frappe!
Food Geek Trivia: When Nestle's started marketing Nescafe in Latin America, they had a bit of a glitch at first as Nescafe sounds a lot like "no es cafe" (it isn't coffee). – Jay Francis
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