Aosta Valley coffee

At the end of a meal, in many homes and restaurants in the Aosta Valley, a round wooden cup is brought to the table, closed with a lid and fitted with several spouts. It holds coffee mixed with eau-de-vie and set alight, which people drink in turn. This is café à la valdôtaine, also called café à la cogneintse after Cogne, where the custom seems to have taken particularly firm root. The tradition is handed down from one generation to the next.

The friendship cup

The friendship cup is carved from wood, often walnut or maple. It has several spouts, one for each guest, and is passed from hand to hand. That is the whole point of the ritual: people drink together, from the same vessel.

It is often confused with the grolle, another traditional wooden cup. Today the grolle is mainly used as an ornament.

Sugar, spices and flame

The coffee must be hot and strong. The eau-de-vie, punch and génépi are heated separately with sugar, cloves and orange peel. The coffee is added, everything is poured into the cup with its sugared rim, and then set alight. The sugar caramelises while the alcohol burns.

Preparing the cup

Ingredients for 4 people:

• 4 cups of coffee (espresso or moka pot)
• 4 cups of clear eau-de-vie
• 4 cups of punch
• 1 cup of génépi
• 4 spoonfuls of sugar
• 4 cloves
• some orange peel

Method:

1. Make the coffee. It should be strong and very hot.
2. Sprinkle sugar around the rim of the friendship cup.
3. In a saucepan, heat the eau-de-vie, punch, génépi, sugar, cloves and orange peel until the sugar melts.
4. Strain this mixture and add the coffee to it.
5. Pour everything into the cup and set it alight. Let the sugar caramelise, basting from time to time with a spoon.
6. Close the cup with its lid. Drink in turn: each person drinks from their own spout and covers the neighbouring spouts with a finger.

The spices can vary to taste: some people add cinnamon, vanilla or cardamom.