When hell half-freezes over: Rhubarb semifreddo
I have been known to have the occasional chefly-curse-laden temper tantrum.
The most recent eruption happened after cleaning out our chicken coop and was working a winters worth of manure into the garden when I noticed the fresh new sprouts of rhubarb poking out of the soil. The little red orbs stood in stark contrast to their drab surroundings.
I was drawn to one plant in particular as its red orb of a head had split in half revealing a tight bundle of leaves that looked like bright green brains when bits of fluff blew past, which I dismissed as ashes being blown up from a nearby burn pile. I realized that it was snowflakes not ashes that were blowing about which triggered a blue streak of superlatives. I retreated to the house, put a couple of more logs in the woodstove and looked out at the barrenness of early spring. It felt like late autumn and I shivered feeling half frozen.
Semifreddo is Italian for “half cold” in the kitchen it is thought to mean “half frozen” referring to semi-frozen desserts like ice cream, parfaits, gelato and of course semifreddo.
Semifreddo is similar to frozen mousse as it made with cream, eggs, sugar and a lot of air. The air isn’t so much an ingredient but a mixture that is incorporated into the dessert by whipping the cream, making a meringue with the egg whites and a light foamy sauce made from the egg yolks called zabaglione.
The zabaglione is probably the most important part of a semifreddo as it allows us to incorporate flavour into it by adding fresh herbs, or fruit. I suggest you pin this recipe on the fridge and save it for when things warm up, the rhubarb is gushing and you want a light semi-frozen dessert to remind you of the past winter.
Lakefield area chef Brian Henry owns and operates Chef Brian Henry Private Chef Services: www.chefbrianhenry.com.