Bagna cauda
A warm dip of garlic, anchovy and olive oil, often enriched with butter, that Piedmont serves over a flame with raw and cooked vegetables and bread.
Zabaglione
A warm foam of egg yolks, sugar and sweet wine, whisked over gentle heat in a double boiler until light, served at once with fruit or biscuits.
Egg yolk and wine in a foam
Zabaglione is a warm sweet foam. Raw egg yolks, sugar and a sweet wine are whisked over gentle heat until they thicken into a light custard.
Its French form is sabayon. The French adopted the dessert in the nineteenth century under the name, and the term later covered savoury broths and yolk-based sauces as well.
Sources for this section
Where it comes from
The earliest concrete record is a recipe in the Cuoco Napoletano manuscript at the Morgan Library, which the account places in the second half of the fifteenth century. Piedmont is the region most often given, and the account lists it, but it notes that accounts vary. A Piedmontese story links the sweet to a sixteenth-century cook and to Saint Pasquale Baylon; the account calls this a legend rather than documented history, and the page treats it that way.
In the United States, where Italian communities are large, zabaglione has been served at the table since the 1960s, often with fruit. In Argentina and Uruguay the name sambayón is a popular ice-cream flavour.
Sources for this section
Variants and serving
Marsala is the classic wine. The account notes that other wines can be substituted, and that the wine can be left out for children or for those who abstain, while some versions add a spirit such as cognac. A simpler breakfast form, uovo sbattuto, is eaten with espresso.
Zabaglione is served warm and at once, in a glass or champagne coupe, with strawberries, blueberries or peaches in US restaurants, or finished with meringue or whipped cream.
Sources for this section
History
The earliest concrete record is the Naples manuscript. The Piedmontese story of a sixteenth-century origin named for Saint Pasquale Baylon is a legend, not documented history, and the French sabayon is recorded in the nineteenth century.
Ingredients
Scaling: source batch only
Egg yolksRaw yolks.
Amount not stated
Amount not stated in the sourceAmount not stated
Amount not stated in the sourceMarsalaA sweet wine; the classic choice. Moscato d'Asti is also named as usual.
Amount not stated
Amount not stated in the sourceCognac (optional)
Amount not stated
Optional; some versions add spiritsMethod
- Put the egg yolks, sugar and sweet wine in a bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water (a bain-marie or double boiler).
- Whisk until the mixture thickens into a light, airy custard.
- Serve at once, finished with meringue or whipped cream if wanted, and with fruit.
Places
Piedmont
Traditional preparation · Region evidenceWikipedia lists Piedmont as the region of origin, while noting that accounts vary. The place is a claimed association, not a proven origin.
Naples
Historical attestation · Region evidenceA recipe in the Cuoco Napoletano manuscript at the Morgan Library is the earliest dated record the account gives.
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Sources
WikipediaHistory · Method · Variants
ZabaionePiedmont and Naples origins with the Cuoco Napoletano manuscript
Cooking yolks, sugar and sweet wine in a bain-marie until light and airy
Variants: Marsala, sabayon, sambayón, uovo sbattuto, alcohol-free; serving with fruit and meringue
Cited in: Egg yolk and wine in a foam; Where it comes from; Variants and serving