Saturday 2 April 2011

Coffee and the art of remembering


"Bella Italia" Petone

"Smith the Grocer" Wellington

"Steam" Oamaru


"Smith the Grocer" Wellington

Drinking coffee in New Zealand is definitely "couture" rather than "off the peg". Every coffee house has a distinct style, often decorated with delightful objects or pictures. More than once these objects have had me sauntering down memory lane whilst downing a French roast. There is always the possibility that you bump into a part of the past as you sip your latte.

The Pinocchio boy is the trade mark of one of our coffee companies in the city. He appears in a number of shops, to advertise the brand. I had a small pinocchio toy as a child given to me by a neighbour who travelled regularly to Italy.

Take the coffee pots. I was a child in the 1960s. It was fashionable at that time to "perc" the coffee and serve with milk boiled in a pan. My mother had a block of glass which would be set in the base of the pan to alert her when it started to boil. The rattling could be heard in the next room.

The tin boxes remind me of my grandpa Cyril. He ran a bicycle repair business from his garage. Every imaginable item for spare parts were stored in old biscuit tins on shelves.

I can kid myself that visiting a coffee shop is actually jogging. But in this instance it is only the memory that gets exercise.

2 comments:

rutimizrachi said...

Lovely. Thank you for sharing your trip down memory lane with us!

Merisi said...

A trip down memory with all the visual help you can get, very enjoyable and interesting!

I always wanted to know how that piece of glass would keep the milk from burning! ;-)