L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2022 www.italoamericano.org 26 L'Italo-Americano LIFE PEOPLE PLACES HERITAGE TRADITIONS F inally, tempera- tures in Italy are w h a t y o u ' d expect for mid- f a l l . W h i l e n o t everyone is a cold-weather lover rain, chilly mornings and snow are necessary for nature to complete its yearly cycle and for crops to devel- op normally. So, yes. It's cold. It's time to turn on the central heat- ing, get the fireplace going - so you can also throw orange a n d m a n d a r i n p e e l s a n d make your home smell deli- c i o u s l y s e a s o n a l - a n d indulge in heart-warming food and drinks. Teas and coffees, of course, and hot chocolate. But in Italy, we h a v e a l s o o t h e r o p t i o n s , some of which are not so uncommon in other parts of t h e w o r l d , e i t h e r . L e t ' s e x p l o r e t h e o r i g i n s - a n d ingredients! - of the most popular ones. Cioccolata calda It goes without saying, of course. Hot chocolate is the drink of the cold season i n e v e r y c o u n t r y i n t h e w o r l d . B u t y o u p r o b a b l y know that Italian hot choco- late is quite different from its American or northern European counterparts: our version, more often than not served with lashings of sug- a r e d w h i p p e d c r e a m , i s m o r e o f a d e s s e r t t h a n a drink, because it is famously thick. Think of the thickness of cream, rather than that of m i l k . H o t c h o c o l a t e w a s probably made popular in Italy by the Savoias in the 15th and 16th centuries, way b e f o r e t h e y b e c a m e t h e country's own royal family. They enjoyed it in Turin, to beat the often bitterly cold P i e d m o n t e s e w i n t e r s . Today, you can get hazelnut- flavored hot chocolate, white hot chocolate and you can buy boxes of hot chocolate mix to get a cup of thick and c h o c o l a t e y g o o d n e s s a t home, too. Lo zabaione T h e a n c i e n t o r i g i n s o f zabaione are debated, but it seems that this delicious and slightly alcoholic cream c o m e s f r o m t h e I t a l i a n North-West, just like hot chocolate. It is a concoction o f e g g y o l k s , s u g a r a n d sweet, liquorous wine such as Marsala, and it is usually consumed warm on its own, w i t h c o o k i e s o r a s l i c e o f homemade cake. You may find it spelled also as zaba- jone or zabaglione, but the recipe is always the same. Apparently, the cream was c r e a t e d i n 1 6 t h c e n t u r y T u r i n t o h o n o r S a i n t Pasquale Baylon, saint pro- tector of bakers and cooks, and it was called crema di San Baylon which became, i n t h e m o u t h o f p e o p l e , sambayon -which is the way the cream is still known in t h e P i e d m o n t e s e d i a l e c t . Americans and Brits have t h e i r o w n v e r s i o n o f z a b a i o n e , o f c o u r s e : eggnog. This delicious treat was invented in the 1700s in London by Carl Joannessons w h o p u t t o g e t h e r e g g s , sugar, milk, whipped cream and spices like vanilla, cin- namon and nutmeg. Very similar indeed, but careful! Italian zabaione is an over- 18 drink, as it contains alco- hol. Il bombardino I l b o m b a r d i n o i s a quintessential skiing-day drink, or better, a quintes- s e n t i a l a p r è s s k i d r i n k . Après ski, which is French for "after skiing," is a popu- lar habit of all skiers along the Alps, who like to meet after a day on the slopes and enjoy a "warming aperitivo" together. Enter bombardi- no, a sweet, hot, creamy and pretty boozy drink made of z a b a i o n e , c r e a m a n d brandy, usually topped with whipped cream. It was first served in Livigno, at the Rifugio Mottolino, some- t i m e s i n t h e 7 0 s a n d i t s name, legends say, comes from the words said by one of the first people who tried it: "Wow, that's a bomb!" Bomb or not, after a day ski- ing, we all need the energy of sugar and egg, and the warming benefits of brandy t o g e t s o m e c o l o r o n o u r cheeks and some strength back into our poor limbs, so bombardino it is! Il punch Now, punch is not Ital- ian and perhaps is not com- m o n e v e r y w h e r e i n t h e country, but it's, again, quite traditional across the Alps, especially in the Trentino Alto-Adige region. This is because it is, in fact, com- mon in Austria, which is just a stone's throw away from there. Anyway, one of my best friends is from Merano and she can't spend a cold evening without a cup of hot punch in hand. Hot, alpine- s t y l e p u n c h i s m a d e w i t h s q u e e z e d o r a n g e s a n d lemons, brown sugar, black tea, rum, red wine, cinna- mon, vanilla, and dried cit- rus peels. It must be served rigorously hot, of course. Latte, miele e rum Hot milk and honey is a classic served to children when they are sick and often enjoyed also by us adults when we feel a bit under the weather. It's sweet and com- forting and, while it may not do much to actually cure a bad cold, it does soothe a sore throat quite nicely. But Italians like to spike this otherwise pretty innocuous drink by putting rum in it. I admit that my grandmother use to add a drop of two of rum to my latte e miele if I had a bad cold when I was young: she said it helped s w e a t t h e s i c k n e s s o u t , which it certainly did. And while I am not suggesting adding liquors to your kids' hot milk, you should certain- ly try it yourselves: it's just a creamier version of a nice and comforting hot whisky. Five drinks to keep warm Italian style! CHIARA D'ALESSIO A glass of zabaione with chocolate chips: zabaione is similar to eggnog (Photo: Sergii Koval/Dreamstime) Zabaione with whipped cream: a delicious way to keep warm this winter! (Photo: Rimma Bondarenko/Dreamstime)

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