Saba (condiment) facts for kids
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| Region or state | Emilia-Romagna |
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Saba, also known as sapa, is a special sweet syrup. It's a traditional condiment (a type of sauce or seasoning) used in many parts of Italy. You can find it in regions like Emilia-Romagna, Marche, Umbria, Abruzzo, Apulia, and Sardinia.
Saba is made from fresh grape juice, called must. This must is slowly cooked until it becomes a thick, sweet syrup. Sometimes, people add whole walnuts to the pot. As the must cooks, the walnuts gently turn, which helps stop the syrup from sticking to the bottom of the pot. The saba is ready when it has cooked down to about one-third of its original amount. Because it's so sweet, it stays good for a long time!
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What Does "Saba" Mean?
The words "saba" and "sapa" come from an old Latin word, sàpor. This word means "flavor" or "taste."
How Is Saba Used in the Kitchen?
Saba has been used in cooking for a very long time. Before cane sugar or beet sugar became common or affordable, saba was a main way to add sweetness to food. People used it like honey or other fruit juices that were cooked down.
It's great for making homemade sweets. It also adds a lot of flavor to simple dishes. For example, people might pour it over polenta (a dish made from cornmeal). They also use it to dip piadina (a type of flatbread) or gnocco fritto (fried dough).
Today, saba is still used in many ways. You can use it as a dressing for salads. It also makes a tasty sauce for cream and ice creams. In the summer, some people even mix it with water to make a refreshing drink.
Saba in Traditional Italian Sweets
Saba is a key ingredient in many traditional Italian desserts.
- It's used to soak sabadoni, which are ravioli-like pastries filled with apples and quince pears.
- In Modena, saba helps keep a special Christmas bread soft and moist.
- In towns like Staffolo, Apiro, and Cingoli in the Macerata province, saba is used to make cavallucci. These are croissants filled with saba and dried fruit. They can be stored for a long time.
- The town of Rosora, in the Ancona province, even has a festival in October dedicated to saba!
Saba, sometimes called mosto cotto, is also important for other regional specialties:
- In Terni, it's a key part of panpepato, a Christmas sweet.
- In Assisi, it's used as a condiment for many dishes, including roasted meats.
Other Types of Saba
While most saba comes from grapes, it can also be made from other fruits. For example, in Sardinia, saba can be made from prickly pear fruits (called Saba de figu morisca). Sometimes, it's even made from the fruits of the strawberry tree.
Another type of saba, called "vincotto", can be made from figs. Ripe and withered figs are cooked until the liquid turns amber. This liquid is then pressed out and cooked down further over a slow fire until it becomes a thick syrup.
Saba is very popular in traditional sweets from Apulia. It's used for dipping cartellate and calzoncelli (fried pastries). It's also an ingredient in mixing dough for sasanelli and mostacciuoli (spiced cookies).
Saba's Cousin: Turkish Pekmez
There's a sweet syrup from Turkey called pekmez that is similar to saba. It has been used since the time of the Ottoman Empire. Pekmez is also made by boiling down fruit juice, often from grapes, figs, or other fruits. It's used as a sweet syrup, sometimes mixed with tahina for breakfast. It's also a common ingredient in many pastry recipes in Turkey.
