This is a story that was told to me today by a Dublin taxi driver. I'm not sure how true it is, but it's an interesting story nonetheless.
This taxi driver and I were chatting about travelling:
"Ah Jaysus bud, yer dead roigh', travel da bleedin' world while ye can. Were ye ever in Sicily? I was in this town there called Cappuccino. Meself and the missus stopped off for a coffee." he said.
According to my new, learned friend, this is where the beverage Cappuccio originated from. The main industry in the town was growing olives and coffee beans, which the Capuchin monks used to harvest and trade. Because of the abundance of coffee beans, they came up with different methods of consuming the beans before the went stale.
"All dis bleedin' coffee hangin' around; sure they were bound to do somethin' with it. Knowharimean, bud?" he said.
One of these methods was to go out to the field with some ground coffee beans, and mix fresh, warm, frothy milk in straight from the cow. Thusly, the Cappuccino was invented.
I recoiled in disgust.
"Have ye never drunk milk straight from the udder, bud?"
"Umm, not recently, no"
"Ahh, the yout' of today. Jaaaaysus, yiz are missin' out."