CHIAVARI, Italy – Half the fun of
cooking in Italy is finding the stories behind the recipes – and as you all
know by now – everything you eat in Italy has a story behind it - absolutely
everything. Today’s recipe for zabaglione, a wonderfully simple dessert made of
egg yolks, sugar, and Marsala wine is no different.
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| Zabaglione and Biscotti |
My love affair with zabaglione goes
back a long way. Whenever my grandmother thought I was looking a little pale,
she would whip up a glass of zabaglione and serve it to me as part of my
afternoon snack, a sort of Italian smoothie. As I had my snack she would tell
me stories about the brave doctors and nurses who were saving lives in far off
Africa. Of course I had to take a bite of what she was feeding me in order to
hear what happened next, but who wouldn’t want to know what happened when the
doctors and nurses in Africa found a lion in the hospital? It was exciting
stuff for a four year old. But the one story she wouldn’t have been able to
tell me is the story of zabaglione. It’s definitely not suitable for four year
old ears.
Actually there are several stories out
there regarding the origin of zabaglione, but this is my favorite. This
zabaglione story starts in the northern Italian province of Piedmont – home of
the Slow Food Movement. It seems a Spanish monk, a certain Fra Giovanni de
Baylon, arrived in Torino sometime in the late 1500’s, and was assigned to the
church of San Tommaso, the same church that is still on the corner of Via Pieto
Micca and Via San Tommaso.
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| Church of San Tommaso, Turin, Italy |
One of the things Father Baylon brought
with him from Spain was his favorite recipe of eggs and sugar fortified with a
large dose of a sweet wine from Cyprus. He soon settled into his duties as
pastor of San Tommaso church but after a few months of listening to the women
of Torino complain about their husbands lack of interest in making love to
them, Father Baylon started giving them his special egg, sugar and wine recipe
telling them to feed it to their husbands. It will rejuvenate them, he told the
signoras of Turin, and you will be as happy as a new bride.
Apparently it worked. In 1680 Father
Baylon was sanctified by Pope Alessander VII and the people of Turin began
proclaiming far and wide the wondrous rejuvenating recipe Father Baylon had
given their city. Saint Giovanni de
Baylon’s last name soon became San Bajon in Piedmontese dialect, which, when
applied to his famous recipe was transformed to l’Sanbajon, and later
Italianized to zabaglione. And that is
how zabaglione became famous throughout the world and Saint Giovanni Bajon
became Turin’s patron saint of food.
You can serve zabaglione with cookies,
fresh fruit, whipped cream or with a little bit of story and lots of love.
ZABALIONE
Serves 4
Ingredients
8 egg yolks
100 ml of dry Marsala or Vin Santo
160 grams white sugar
Separate
the 8 eggs, discarding the whites (or freeze them to use in other recipes). Put
the sugar (1) and the egg yolks in an deep stainless steel bowl (that you can
place over a bagnomaria), and whip them together with an electric mixer (3)
until it forms a foamy, smooth almost white cream (4).
Slowly
add the wine little by little continuing to beat the mixture so it absorbs the
liquid (5). When all of the ingredients have been well mixed, place the bowl
over simmering water (the bowl must not touch the water) and continue to beat
the mixture for 10-15 minutes or until it becomes smooth and creamy and dense
(6). At that point the zabalione is ready to serve.
If you prefer to serve it cold,
remember to stir it as it cools in the refrigerator to avoid the wine from
separating and settling on the bottom of the bowl.
It’s
important that you use very fresh eggs and make sure the water in the
bagnomaria just simmers and never boils, otherwise the texture of the
zabaglione will be compromised.
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