Zabaglione

This an energy-giving and nutritious food which was invented by chance at Scandiano. The name Zabaglione comes from the French “buillon”, a term inherited from the French during military occupation. In 1560, the exhausted troops under the command of some “Giovanni da Buglione” set up camp at Scandiano. One evening he commanded the soldiers to look for something to eat in the surrounding countryside. However, times were really hard and there wasn’t much to take from the poor folk so the soldiers were only able to get hold of eggs, flour and white wine. The captain had all the ingredients mixed together in a large pan and cooked them over the fire: the result was a warm, thick broth that the soldiers loved and which rid them of their tiredness. That evening was the first time “John’s Broth” had been made and the soldiers repeated their forays the following evenings, telling the farmers of Scandiano that the ingredients were needed to make “buillon de Jean”. The name soon altered to become “Janbujon” and finally became “Zabaglione”, the Italian version of the old invention from Scandiano. Nowadays, zabaglione is made with Marsala wine because sweet white wine, used in the original recipe dating back to the sixteenth century, is now processed to become sparkling wine (whereas it had to be drunk quickly in those days because it turned into vinegar otherwise). Marsala is poured slowly and added to the egg yolk, then stirred slowly. Some people like to serve it with a chopped-up biscuit or amaretto biscuit because there was a piece of dry bread at the bottom of the bujon.

Ingredients

for 4 people

4 egg yolks
4 spoonfuls of sugar
6 spoonfuls of white wine or Marsala

How to do

Put all the ingredients into a saucepan. Put the saucepan into another bigger pot with hot water and put it on the fire. Through a whisk, beat the zabaglione to make it become soft, swollen and light, and be careful of not making it boil. Serve immediately. Some people love to add a minced biscuit or amaretto because in the bujon the stale bread was the main ingredient.

It is also possible to taste it in this way or use it for other desserts, e.g. you can pour some spoonfuls onto the slice of pandoro and spill it with drops of Reggio Emilia Traditional Balsamic Vinegar or Colli di Scandiano White Wine and Canossa DOC Wine.