Frappé - Ice Coffee

Frappé – Ice Coffee

I don't have, and I never have had, heroes. Neither have I ever been a real 'fan', not of a pop singer, film star or football team. There are however people that I admire. Some of them quite obscure like the East German, I don't know his name, who escaped in a hot air balloon over the heavily guarded border to West Germany. The attempt was desperate, difficult and above all dangerous. The craft was improvised and under powered. To have any chance of success weight had to be kept to a minimum, he took no luggage, just his wife, baby and.... his racing bicycle. Now, through my eyes, that's pretty close to being a hero!

Another person who certainly deserves to be mentioned is Dimitrios Vakondios, the man who invented Frappé in1957.
Ancient Greece has given us Theatre, Drama, Poetry, Philosophy, Physics, Astronomy, and Geometry – The Archimedes' Principle and the Pythagoras Theorem. Frappé, Greek Ice Coffee is a relatively recent invention and in my opinion should be right up there at the top of the list alongside, or even above, Democracy. Democracy is generally believed to be the most important thing that has come out of Greece however the democratic process does have many inconsistencies and imperfections. There are several ways that democratic elections can be organised and many and various ways of counting and appropriating the popular vote, all have their advantages and disadvantages. All can lead to distorted, unsatisfactory, or even curious results.
With Ice Coffee there are no such problems. Two easy choices: with or without milk and how much sugar. A cool and refreshing drink with no complications. Okay you can add whipped cream, chocolate chips or other embellishments but that's overdressing. Anyway I prefer the most simple variation, made with instant coffee, water, ice cubes and not too much sugar.  I've never managed to master the art of drinking iced coffee Greek style though. I guess I'm just not relaxed enough! In Greece men and women, young and old, rich and poor, can be seen anywhere and everywhere, slowly sipping Frappé through brightly coloured plastic drinking straws. They seem to spend hours over just one drink!
However it's not because Dimitrios Vakondios invented this popular drink that I am nominating him for my personal hall of fame. It's the reason why he invented it that makes him a serious candidate.
The reason: he was desperate for a cup of coffee and couldn't find any hot water!