zabaglione

Zabaglione (also spelled zabaione) is a warm Italian custard made by whisking egg yolks, sugar, and Marsala wine over a bain-marie until the mixture thickens into a light, foamy cream. The etymology is uncertain. Theories include a derivation from late Latin sabaia (an Illyrian beer), from a Neapolitan dialect word, or from the name of Saint Paschal Baylon. None of these is convincing. The word appears in Italian texts from the sixteenth century.

One persistent legend credits the dish to Saint Paschal Baylon (1540-1592), the patron saint of cooks. The story claims he advised women to feed their husbands egg yolks beaten with sweet wine as a fortifier. 'Zabaglione' supposedly derives from 'San Baylon.' This is almost certainly folk etymology — the kind of story that fills the gap when the real origin is lost.

In France, the dish is called sabayon, borrowed from the Italian in the eighteenth century. French chefs adopted and adapted it, using it as a sauce for desserts and as a base for gratins. The French version is often lighter and more refined than the Italian original, which tends to be richer and more aggressively flavored with wine.

Zabaglione was a standard item on Italian-American restaurant menus from the 1950s through the 1980s. It fell from fashion in the 1990s as lighter, less egg-heavy desserts took over. It has never entirely disappeared, but it is now a retro dish — the kind of thing that signals a restaurant is old-fashioned or deliberately revivalist. The warm custard cooled.