The Friendship Cup or La coppa dell’amicizia is a typical handicraft product of the Aosta Valley and also one of the symbols of this Italian region bordering on France and for this reason, also linked to the transalpine tradition.
Its French name is “coupe de l’Amitié” and another French is usually used when explaining how the cup of friendship is used, that is, drinking à la Ronde: each diner drinks from one of the spouts and then pass the cup to the close to the table in an anticlockwise direction and without ever placing the cup on the table between one passage and another (otherwise it will be bad!).
The Friendship Cup is strictly in wood, but there is no favorite type of wood, ranging from walnut to maple depending on your preferences.
Also, the number of spouts is not fixed, it varies according to the size of the cup and therefore from its diameter.
On the lid of the cup, always circular in shape, there is always an incision, which can depict a plant, an animal, or another symbol dear to those who carve wood.
Someone wrongly uses the name “grolla valdostana” for the Friendship Cup, but in reality, they are two similar but different things: in common they have the fact of being made of wood and having spouts, but the substantial difference it is in the form.
The Friendship Cup is low and wide, while the Aosta Valley grolla is like a chalice, so much so that the name “grolla” is thought to derive from “Graal”, the chalice used by Jesus during the last supper.
The Friendship Cup is mainly used to drink two types of drinks: the most typical is Valle d’Aosta coffee which is prepared using Arabica or Robusta coffee.
The recipe may undergo several variations, but the main ingredients are, in addition to coffee, the Aosta Valley grappa, sugar, and citrus fruits such as lemon or orange, of which the zest is used. According to tastes, cloves, cinnamon or juniper can also be added.
In the cup of friendship, the coffee (long) is poured first, then the sugar and the citrus peel are added. Sugar must also be used to put it on the edge of the cup which is wetted with grappa.
The rest of the grappa is poured into the coffee. At this point, you can put the cap on the fire, with the help of a wooden spoon to stir the mixture while it cooks. When the sugar on the rim of the cup is caramelized, then you can put out the fire and make the cup go around the diners à la Ronde.
Remember to always settle down on a cold winter night with some good friends and drink from la coppa dell’amicizia, or the friendship cup. And every time you drink, you have to do a cheer to something – it doesn’t matter how random or vulgar it is.
You gotta cheer! Originating from the Valle d’Aosta region in northern Italy, this terracotta cup (of sorts), often called “la grolla”, normally comes with 4 or more drinking spouts, one for each friend.
Typically, coffee is drunk from the grolla. After a day out skiing in the alps with friends, who wouldn’t like to come back home and get tipsy together? Just remember which spout is yours. Just promise you won’t do the ballo della pupa after drinking from the coppa dell’amicizia.
The other drink that is often drunk with the Friendship Cup is mulled wine. It is prepared by pouring the wine with a little cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, lemon zest, and sugar into a saucepan.
It is boiled and then poured into the cup to warm it up a little more inside this precious wooden container. Immediately after, it can be served to diners.
In the meantime, before the first use, rinse the Friendship Cup only with grappa or with coffee grounds left to macerate for a day. After use, however, the cup must absolutely not be washed with water but cleaned with a damp, warm cloth.
It should be remembered that the cup must never be left near sources of heat when it is empty because it could crack.
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