The Southern Italian Dish That Was Created By Accident

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Sometimes, in order to learn, we need to make mistakes. While some food errors can turn deadly when it comes to food safety, there are wondrous dishes in the world that wouldn't exist without happy accidents. Even chocolate chip cookies wouldn't be here today without a kitchen slip-up involving chocolate bits that didn't melt as expected. But of all the best foods created by accident, one particularly delightful dish came to be during the early 1800s, in Teramo, Italy. It might be hard to pronounce, but scrippelle 'mbusse is easy to eat and quick to make.

Scrippelle 'mbusse consists of a very thin egg pancake or crepe, rolled with cheese and served in a hot broth made of chicken and capon. The delicate, savory, and comforting dish is ideal for cold winter days as a first course. Its name derives from the French word "crêpe," mixed with local dialects to translate roughly to "wet crepe."

However, it might seem odd that this dish came from Italy, considering the French-based name. In reality, this specific dish is a "French" food that isn't actually French. According to legend, a sous chef named Enrico Castorani was preparing meals for French officers who had been stationed in Teramo, in the mountainous region of Abruzzo in Southern Italy. The French, who weren't fond of local cornmeal loaves, had taken to eating crepes prepared by the Italian chefs, instead. This had been going well until, one day, Castorani accidentally dropped the crapes into a pot of boiling chicken broth. To cover for his mistake, he decided to serve them up — and scrippelle 'mbusse has been beloved in the region ever since.

The best way to eat scrippelle 'mbusse is probably by visiting Abruzzo. However, the second best way might be to make it from scratch. While crepes and pancakes are slightly different, both can be made in minutes once you have your batter ready.

For the batter of these crepes, or scrippelle, you only need flour, eggs, salt, water, and spices. The batter ends up fairly thin in consistency, like light cream when compared to thicker pancake batter. You can cook each scrippelle in an oiled crepe pan in less than a minute, but a nonstick skillet works okay if that's all you have. Top the scrippelle with a little cheese, such as traditional Pecorino Abruzzese, roll them up, and serve them in a bowl with hot broth of your choosing. Some say this broth needs to be of the highest quality, so you might want to make some from scratch. It can also be found at a few restaurants in the United States, including Ambra in Philadelphia, which makes specialty versions.

The recipe for this dish is simple enough, so don't be afraid to mix it up a little. Try out different cheeses, such as Romano; or add meat or mushrooms to the filling to make it a full meal. You can even try an upside-down pan technique that makes crepes much easier. Scrippelle 'mbusse may be an ancient delicacy, but that doesn't mean you can't get modern with your tweaks.