The Barbajada (also italianized as BarbagliataRecipe for La Barbajada
on melegnano.net) is a popular

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

ese sweet frothy drink, popular in the 19th century and the early decades of the 20th century but still occasionally served today. It is made with whipped

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civ ...

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. Immune factors and immune ...

and

coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. S ...

in equal parts, along with any amount of

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...

, and possibly topped with

cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process ...

. It is served warm in

winter Winter is the coldest season of the year in polar and temperate climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Different cultures ...

, usually to accompany desserts such as the

Panettone Panettone (, ; lmo, label=Milanese, panetton ) is an Italian type of sweet bread, and fruitcake, originally from Milan, usually prepared and enjoyed for Christmas and New Year in Western, Southern, and Southeastern Europe as well as in South A ...

or other Milanese delicacies. In the past there was also a cold version served in

summer Summer is the hottest of the four temperate seasons, occurring after spring and before autumn. At or centred on the summer solstice, the earliest sunrise and latest sunset occurs, daylight hours are longest and dark hours are shortest, wit ...

. Joanne
Barbajada
on fruttodellapassione.net Reportedly, the recipe was a creation of

Domenico Barbaja Domenico Barbaia (also spelled Barbaja; 10 August 1777 – 19 October 1841) was best known as an opera Italian impresario. An energetic man, Barbaia, who was born in Milan, began his career by running a coffee shop. He made his first fortune by ...

(hence the name), who was at the time a ''garzone'' (waiter) in a café.Eisenbeiss 2013, p. 14 The drink was so successful that Barbaja eventually grew rich enough to become a theatrical

impresario An impresario (from the Italian ''impresa'', "an enterprise or undertaking") is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, plays, or operas, performing a role in stage arts that is similar to that of a film or television producer. Hist ...

as well as the owner of a café in the luxury venue of

Piazza della Scala Piazza della Scala is a pedestrian central square of Milan, Italy, connected to the main square of Milan, Piazza del Duomo, by the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II passage. It is named after the renowned Teatro alla Scala opera house, which occupies ...

.Barbajada e dolcezze lombarde
/ref>

References

Notes Sources *Eisenbeiss, Philip (2013), ''Bel Canto Bully: The Life of the Legendary Opera Impresario Domenico Barbaja''. London: Haus Publishing, 2013 Italian desserts Cuisine of Lombardy Chocolate drinks Coffee in Italy {{Coffee in Italy

See also

References