Candida Martinelli's Italophile Site
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Page This family-friendly site celebrates Italian culture for the enjoyment of children and
adults. Site-Overview
And they'll love you for
preparing it for them!
He was sanctified partly because of
the energy and potency a recipe of his gave men in his parish and
beyond, helping them conceive lots of children. That
recipe was for Zabaione or Zabaglione or Sabayon, a simple egg yolk,
sugar and sweet wine dessert. In Italy, Zabaione is traditionally
served to the newlywed man so he has energy to get through the wedding
night! The energy comes from the egg yolk and sugar.
The flavor comes from the combination of the three main
ingredients. I’ve
never met a man who didn’t love Zabaione.
I even had one male dinner guest who after taking a few bites,
begged for the remainder from the kitchen.
Then he astounded us all by licking the pot clean!
(We had fun teasing his wife about the fun evening she had ahead
of her.) I think that
because men love the dessert so much, more than women, they just love
the person who makes it for them, hence the rise in Renaissance birth
rates in and around Turin, Italy! The
sweet wine used is Marsala wine, but you can make it with any dessert
wine, or liqueur or liquor. Whiskey
Zabaione is especially good, but the whiskey has to have a strong
flavor, like Jack Daniels or a single malt. In
the recipe I give you here for several portions, the original water is
replaced with more wine. Wine
was very expensive back in the 1500s, so Brother Pasquale had the
housewives thin it with water. Most
if not all of the alcohol cooks off during the preparation leaving only
the flavor. If you’re serving it to children, just cook it a bit longer
to be sure you cook off the alcohol. 6
eggs yolks 3/4
cups sugar 1
cup Marsala wine Put
the yolks and sugar together in a stainless steel pot. Mix
this with an electric mixer over a very low heat (or in a
double-boiler) constantly as you slowly add the Marsala wine. Cook
it for at least 5 minutes, mixing all the time as it thickens. If it's not
light and airy after that, whip it for another few minutes at high
speed. (Cooking times vary so be patient. It's the egg
yolks that do the most to thicken the dessert, so if the eggs are
small, add an extra yolk.) Serving
Suggestions: It's delicious
served warm over sliced fruit, especially peaches. Traditionally,
it’s served with cookies. Fancy
restaurants serve it warm in a brandy snifter with a long handled
spoon.
Visit all my Summer Sweets Pages:
Dolci
al cucchiaio - Spoon-Breads
A
Saint's Recipe That Men Love - Zabaione
Saint
Pasquale de Baylon (1540-1592) from Turin, Italy is the Saint Protector
of all World Cooks since 1722. 
The
original recipe Brother Pasquale gave to his female parishioners is
still used in Turin, Italy by housewives.
They call it the 'L Sanbajon or the 1-2-2-1, because of
the proportion of ingredients of a single portion: 1
egg yolk, 2 teaspoons sugar, 2 egg shells of sweet wine, 1 egg shell of
water.
