Thessaloniki Frappé (Φραπέ Θεσσαλονίκης)

Thessaloniki frappé is the cold coffee of the northern café table: instant coffee beaten with a little cold water until it rises into a tan foam, then poured over ice. It is not freddo espresso, and it is not brewed coffee chilled after the fact. The region is the dish's surname here too, because this glass was born in Thessaloniki and then crossed the whole Greek summer.

The one method decides it. Shake the instant coffee, sugar, and just 30ml cold water first, before the ice and the rest of the water go in. That small, hard shake builds the cap that makes a frappé a frappé. Add all the water at once and you've made thin iced coffee, not this drink.

I keep it plain because the original is plain. Sketos means no sugar, metrios is moderately sweet, glykos is sweet, and me gala means with milk, usually evaporated milk in the old café way. A recipe written down is a recipe saved, even when the recipe is only a glass, a shaker, and a hot Thessaloniki afternoon.