For 6 people: 1/4 l sweet cream, 15 g instant coffee and 50 g coffee beans
Boil together, let steep for 20 minutes, pour through a sieve and chill. Whisk 6 egg yolks with 75 g sugar in a bain-marie until creamy and the mixture starts to thicken, stirring constantly. Place the bowl on ice water, stir the contents until cold and mix with the coffee cream. Fold in 1/4 l stiffly whipped cream. Whip 2 egg whites with 30 g sugar and a pinch of salt until stiff and fold into the cappucino mixture. Freeze for 12 hours.
Granita de Caffè
Freeze strong, sweetened espresso in a shallow bowl until it can be scraped thin. Serve in chilled glasses.
Coffee Wacker, a Frankfurt institution
.As "black water, obtained from seeds, the cavee heißen", such obscure once came to an Italian legation at the High Gate in Constantinople the drink that they presented there under the name of coffee. It must have been mocha from Yemen, where most of the coffee drunk in Turkey still comes from today. Hans Zülch had the opportunity to taste it at Yemeni coffee growers and found it, let's say, very original. It hardly plays a role on the international markets, the spoiled taste demands more refined infusions. The beans are harvested in Guatemala, Costa Rica, Kenya, Nicaragua or Java. Mexico shines with the old, Indian variety Maragogype, whose beans develop their full aroma after only a short roasting time. It is considered the mildest coffee and costs €8.60 per pound at Wacker. The best mocha, because it is the strongest and yet low in acidity, is the Ethiopian Sidamo; the queen of coffee beans, however, is called Jamaica Blue Mountain and is consequently the most expensive at €9.20 (for 100 grams, mind you).
According to Jeremias Gotthelf, when Mina Wacker arrived in Frankfurt from Swabia in 1910, the days when housewives roasted the coffee they bought raw and pale at home were already over. The company she founded is now run by the 2nd and 3rd generations, mother Margarethe together with siblings Angelika and Hans Zülch. While the women preside over the shop at Kornmarkt and the café in Mittelweg, he runs the Bornheim shop and roasts in Fechenheim (tours on request).
In the 40-kilo, gas-heated drum roaster, the raw beans get their brown color within 12 to 15 minutes. Only then are the coffees blended; espresso, on the other hand, roasts a little longer, and Hans Zülch also blends it beforehand. You can drink the black coffee, which is particularly digestible due to the stronger roast, ice cold. For example as Granita de Caffè, a kind of sorbet, which Zülch learned to appreciate in Rome; by the way, he drank the best espresso in Turin.
According to the expert's assessment, Frankfurt's coffee culture is quite acceptable; it is not only at Wacker that people have an idea of it. How it is in the households with it, depends not only on the quality of the water. Like all connoisseurs, Hans Zülch thinks little of coffee machines, but a lot of filter jugs, in which the coffee powder is "mazeriert" and in this way develops its aroma best. Coffee is best kept in the freezer, whether it is whole beans or already ground. The powder only has to be dry, then it won't stick together. Last but not least, Wacker's mocha liqueur should be mentioned, but it is only available at Christmas and has enough aroma for a coffee parfait. Gregor Emmer, chef at the Alte Bergmühle in Dreieichenhain, uses instant coffee and whole beans for "Frozen Cappucino" instead.
Wacker`s Coffee
Margarethe Zülch, Angelika Zülch-Busold and Hans Zülch
Kornmarkt 9
60311 Frankfurt am Main
Phone: 069-287810
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 8am-6.30pm, Sat 8am-4pm
Berger Str. 185
60385 Frankfurt am Main
Phone: 069-46007752
Opening hours: Mon-Sat 8am-1pm
Mittelweg 47
60318 Frankfurt am Main
Phone: 069-550242
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 8am-1pm, Sat 8am-6pm
from Waldemar Thomas