{"id":1504,"date":"2010-01-09T13:55:45","date_gmt":"2010-01-09T12:55:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/coquinaria.nl\/?p=1504\/"},"modified":"2020-02-23T10:19:35","modified_gmt":"2020-02-23T09:19:35","slug":"zabaglione","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coquinaria.nl\/en\/zabaglione\/","title":{"rendered":"Zabaglione"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Straight to the recipe<\/small><\/a><\/p>\n

Unchanged through the centuries<\/h2>\n

\"FoodThere was no country called Italy in the Middle Ages. There was a peninsula, divided into small counties and duchies, and the Vatican of course. But the Italian (regional) kitchen had already those characteristics it still has today. Elsewhere on this site you’ll find recipes for sixteenth-century recipes like\u00a0crostini with mozarella<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0tortellini in brodo<\/a>, on this page is one of the earliest recipes for a typically Italian dessert,\u00a0zabaglione<\/em>. The French adopted this dish at the beginning of the nineteenth century as\u00a0sabayon<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Depending on the ratio zabaglione\/other ingredient, this dish can be considered a kind of custard or a sauce: One sliced strawberry on a bowl of zabaglione and you have a custard, a bowl of strawberries with zabaglione on top, and you have a sauce. In the sixteenth century, zabaglione was also served as a drink (see below). It was especially served to sick people and pregnant women. On the picture on the left a bedridden woman eats something out of a bowl with a spoon. It would be nice to be able to state that she eats zabaglione, but in fact this miniature from the\u00a0Tacuinum Sanitatis<\/em>\u00a0represents eating\u00a0savich<\/em>, or barley gruel.
\nThe\u00a0zabaglione<\/em>\u00a0on this page however, is not for the ill or pregnant, but for a jolly company (il compagnone<\/em>\u00a0= ‘gezelligheidsdier, according to my Italian\/Dutch lexicon, which in turn can be translated as ‘convivialist’ or ‘ egregious person’ in English. Although, maybe ‘party animal’ is a more litterally translation).<\/p>\n

How to thicken a preparation with egg yolks<\/h3>\n

Zabaglione<\/em>\u00a0is a warm egg custard. And yes, here we have the tricky one: heating raw egg yolks! This should be done stirring carefully and continuously, or you’ll end up with a lumpy, unappetizing mass. Take your time, resist the urge to increase the heat, and all will be fine. Medieval cooks were experts in preparing dishes on open fire, but this dish must have been a challenge. The recipe below, from the fifteenth century, clearly is written by a professional who deemed it unneccessary to go into details on how to thicken a dish with raw egg yolks. Because “Let boil until it is thick as good soup” really is not a good instruction for a beginner! One century later Bartolomeo Scappi wrote in his\u00a0Opera<\/em>\u00a0(1570) a detailed instruction on how to prepare\u00a0zabaglione<\/em>: in a small kettle that is placed in boiling water in a copper cooking basin (edition<\/a>\u00a0VI.64), a\u00a0bain marie<\/em>\u00a0avant la lettre<\/em>. In another recipe in the\u00a0Opera<\/em>\u00a0the zabaglione is prepared in a tinned copper pot that is placed at a distance from the fire (edition<\/a>\u00a0VI.67). In a recipe for zabaglione from a previous chapter (edtion Scully\u00a0II.163, see bibliography<\/a>). Scappi describes using a rinned copper pot or small kettle that fits on the mouth of a pitcher (cucumo<\/em>, see picture below) that is filled with boiling up to the bottom of the kettle. The space between kettle and jug is sealed (maybe with dough), and after a half hour the contents of the kettle have thickened enough. But never cease stirring!<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Cuoco Napoletano<\/em><\/h3>\n

\"ScappiThe recipe for the\u00a0zabaglione<\/em>\u00a0below dates from the second half of the fifteenth century. It’s from a cookbook known as\u00a0Cuoco Napoletano<\/em>\u00a0(edition<\/a>\u00a0p.88\/9). The text exists in just one manuscript that belongs to the\u00a0Pierpont Morgan Library<\/a>\u00a0in New York. There are 90 leaves (180 pages), with 220 recipes and menu’s of five elaborate meals. According to Scully, who published an English translation in 2000, recipes and menu’s are in one and the same hand (edition Scully p.5, see bibliography<\/a>). The zabaglione recipe literally stands apart: all by itself after the five menus that follow the other recipes. The menus conclude with a\u00a0finis<\/em>, which is repeated after the recipe.
\nIn his comments to the recipes Scully mentions a version for zabaglione from another manuscript that appears to be more recent than the\u00a0Cuoco Napoletano<\/em>, the\u00a0Libro de Cosina<\/em>\u00a0(conserved in the municipal archive of Riva del Garda in Northern Italy). This manuscript is itself an older version of the famous\u00a0Libro de Arte Coquinaria<\/em>\u00a0by Maestro Martino de Rosso (see bibliography<\/a>), and that cookbook in its turn was used by Bartolomeo Sacchi (Platina) for his\u00a0De Honesta Voluptate et Valetudine<\/em>\u00a0(edition Milham, see bibliography<\/a>). Scully provides arguments for the\u00a0Cuoco Napoletano<\/em>\u00a0being the oldest version by a comparison of text fragments of both the\u00a0Cuoco<\/em>\u00a0and the\u00a0Libro<\/em>. (Scully 2000\u00a0pp.245\/248, bibliography<\/a>).<\/p>\n

\"Cucumo.To recapitulate: the\u00a0Cuoco Napoletano<\/em>, the source of the recipe on this page, is according to Scully the oldest text, followed by the\u00a0Libro de cosina<\/em>, then the\u00a0Libro de arte coquinaria by<\/em>\u00a0Martino de Rossi, which in turn was extensively used by Platina in his\u00a0De honeste voluptate et valetudine<\/em>\u00a0from 1468. The\u00a0Libro de arte coquinaria<\/em>\u00a0was also adapted by Giovanni Roselli for his anonymously published book\u00a0Epulario<\/em>\u00a0(1516). The last two books were very popular, and still in print in the seventeenth century. The fact that the source of both texts was the\u00a0Libro de arte coquinaria<\/em>\u00a0only became known since\u00a0Joseph D. Vehling<\/a>\u00a0discovered this manuscript in 1927.<\/p>\n

The zabaglione from the\u00a0Libro de Cosina<\/em>\u00a0is more or less identical to the one from the\u00a0Cuoco Napoletano\u00a0<\/em>(although different amounts are used), but there are two nice little remarks added: this is served at night before going to sleep, and it stimulates the brain (“E questo da a la sera quando l’homo va a dormir. Et notta ch’el conforta lo cervello.” Scully 2000\u00a0p.173, see bibliography<\/a>). The recipe for zabaglione is not found in the\u00a0Libro de Arte Coquinaria<\/em>, nor is it mentioned by Platina. In the\u00a0Opera<\/em>\u00a0from Bartolomeo Scappi (1570, edition Scully 2008, see bibliography<\/a>), another Italian cookbook, on the other hand several recipes for zabaglione can be found. One is reinforced by adding chicken stock (edition Scully 2008,\u00a0II.163), and there are two versions for the ill, one with water instead of stock which is given to pregnant women (edition Scully 2008, VI.64), and an extra nourishing one with stock, almond milk and rose water (edition Scully 2008,\u00a0VI.67). All three also contain egg yolks, sweet wine, sugar and cinnamon, and can be served as drink or thick soup.<\/p>\n

The original recipe<\/h2>\n

From\u00a0Cuoco Napoletano<\/em>\u00a0(edition<\/a>\u00a0p.88\/9). See above for information on the text. The translation is mine.
\n

Zabaglone.
\nPer fare quatro taze de Zabaglone, piglia .xii. rossi de ova frasca, tre onze de zucaro he meza onza de canella bona he uno bucale de vino bono dolce, he fallo cocere tanto che sia preso como uno brodeto. Et poi levalo fora he ponello in uno grando piatello davante alli Compagnone. Et se vorai, gli potrai ponere uno pezo de butiro fresco.<\/em>.<\/div>\n
\nZabaglione.
\nTo make four cups\/bowls of zabaglione, take twelve yolks of fresh eggs, three ounces sugar, a half ounce good cinnamon and a cup of good sweet wine. Let boil until it is thick as broth. Then take [from the fire] and put it in a large dish for the jolly company. And if you like, you can put a piece of unsalted butter on it.<\/div>\n
<\/div><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/a>Modern adaptation of the recipe<\/h2>\n

In the recipe the zabaglione is served in one big bowl for several people, as was usual in those days. If you reckon that four people shared a dish, and eggs were smaller (as were the hens which laid the eggs), it is clear that this was a small side dish. The amounts mentioned would have been for sixteen persons. This modern version is for four to eight people, depending on the menu and whether you serve zabaglione as sauce or custard (see the picture below).
\nDessert<\/span>\u00a0for 4 persons<\/span>;\u00a0preparation in advance<\/em>\u00a05 minutes<\/span><\/span>;\u00a0preparation<\/em>\u00a015 minutes<\/span><\/span>.<\/p>\n

\"Zabaglione4\u00a0egg yolks<\/span>
\n2 to 3 Tbsp\u00a0sugar<\/span>
\n1 to 1\u00bd \u00a0tsp\u00a0cinnamon powder<\/span>
\n1,25 to 1,5 dl (\u2154 to \u00be cup)\u00a0Vin Santo<\/a>\u00a0or other sweet (Italian) wine, or Marsala<\/a>,
\nbutter<\/span>\u00a0at room temperature (optional)<\/p>\n

Preparation in advance<\/h3>\n

Combine egg yolks, cinnamon and sugar in the pan or bowl you plan to heat it in. Beat until frothy (with whisk or electrical mixer), then pour in the wine, while you keep beating the mixture.<\/p>\n

Preparation<\/h3>\n

There are two ways to prepare this dish. To be on the safe side, you can use the\u00a0au bain marie<\/em>\u00a0method (in that case, use a metal bowl that is a good thermal conductor) or a sauce pan with a thick bottom. See here for preparing this dish au bain marie. If you choose for preparing it directly in a sauce pan or skillet, keep watching that the heat is not too high, or you’ll end up with a lumpy mass. Equally important is to keep stirring. If using an electrical mixer, the heat can be turned higher. It takes five (mixer in sauce pan) to fifteen (whisker\u00a0au bain marie<\/em>) minutes for the zabaglione to thicken.<\/p>\n

\"Zabaglione<\/p>\n

To serve<\/h3>\n

At once, because the custard should be warm if butter must melt upon it. But without the butter you can also serve the zabaglione at room temperature or even cold. Use more sugar and no butter in that case.
\nUse small dishes or -more modern- coupes. Modern recipes often suggest sponge-fingers or other cookies (biscotta, even amaretti, see picture to the left). These\u00a0medieval wafers<\/a>\u00a0would also be an excellent combination.
\nOther suggestion: as a sauce on fresh fruit or sweet pastry. Fresh fruit with cake, whipped cream and zabaglione resemble trifle. Last idea: fresh fruit, zabaglione on top, sprinkle with icing sugar and put under the grill or torch for a few moments.<\/p>\n

Ingredients<\/h2>\n

All descriptions of ingredients<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a>Marsala wine<\/h4>\n

Sweet Italian wine from the isle Sicily. Often drunk as aperitive. See\u00a0Wikipedia<\/a>\u00a0for more information.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Ounce<\/h4>\n

In the\u00a0metric system<\/a>, which was first introduced in France in 1791, one ounce is 100 gram. Before that time, and still in the Imperial and American systems, an ounce is about 28,35 gram.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Vin Santo<\/h4>\n

Sweet Italian wine from Tuscany. Is drunk as dessert wine. See\u00a0Wikipedia<\/a>\u00a0for more information.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Bibliography<\/h2>\n

The editions below were used by me. Links refer to available editions.<\/p>\n