Open an old Italian cookbook, browse the index, and … surprise! No tiramisu. ‘ My first encounter with Tiramisu ‘was in 1985. I was in Italy at the time: a friend told me about this new recipe she received. I was so excited about it that I felt compelled to give it a try right away. The taste was unbelievably good, like I had never tasted before. Since then I have fallen in love with this dessert.
Everyone now knows that Tiramisu ‘means “stimulant” in Italian, because of the high energy content (eggs and sugar) and the caffeine in strong espresso. There are many different stories about the origin of Tiramisu. ‘ It is a layered cake; therefore, some trace its origin to Tuscany, where another famous Italian layered dessert is very popular. It’s called “Zuppa Inglese” (English soup). It is not English and it is not a soup. Instead, it is a simple sponge cake or sponge cake, soaked in “alkermes” liqueur, and alternating layers of chocolate and egg custard. Layered cakes have been around for a long time. Tiramisu’s brilliant idea is not in the layering technique, but in the components. The great invention of combining coffee, zabaglione cream and chocolate – this is the true innovation at Tiramisu ‘.
I love studying food history. In my book “The Timeless Art of Italian Cuisine – Centuries of Delicious Food”, there is extensive information on the culinary history of the various regions of Italy. I tried to trace the origin of Tiramisu ‘by researching many Italian cookbooks. The first clue is from the famous Italian foodie Giuseppe Maffioli. In his book “Il ghiottone Veneto”, (The Venetian glutton) first published in 1968, he talks extensively about Zabaglione custard. The name of this cream comes from Zabaja, a popular sweet dessert in the Illiria region. It is the coastal area of the Adriatic Sea that was Venetian territory for a long time during the golden age of the “Repubblica Serenissima” (The Most Serene Republic) of Venice. Zabaglione was prepared in those days with sweet Cyprus wine.
“The groom’s unmarried friends,” says Maffioli, “at the end of the long wedding banquet, maliciously joking, handed him a large bottle of zabajon before the bride and groom left, to ensure a long and successful honeymoon.” “Zabajon”, Maffioli continues, “was sometimes added with whipped cream, but in this case it was served very cold, almost frozen, and accompanied by baicoli, small thin Venetian cookies invented in the 1700s by a baker in the suburb. of Santa Margherita. of Venice “. As we can see, the addition of whipped cream, the serving temperature, the cookies, all these elements are close to the modern Tiramisu recipe. And even the allusion to the energetic properties of Zabaglione, seems to refer to the name of Tiramisu.
Later in my research, the oldest recipe I could find was in Giovanni Capnist’s book “I Dolci del Veneto” (The desserts of Veneto). The first edition was published in 1983 and has a classic Tiramisu recipe. ‘ “Recent recipe with infinite variations from the city of Treviso”, says Capnist, “discovery of restaurants more than family tradition.”
But the last word on the origin of Tiramisú ‘is from Fernando e Tina Raris’s book “La Marca Gastronómica” published in 1998, a book entirely dedicated to the cuisine of the city of Treviso. The authors recall what Giuseppe Maffioli wrote in a 1981 article: “El Tiramisu” was born just 10 years ago in the town of Treviso. It was proposed for the first time in the restaurant. The dessert and its name immediately became very popular, and this cake and the name were copied by many restaurants, first in Treviso and then throughout Italy. “Even today the restaurant” Le Beccherie “makes the dessert with the classic recipe: sponge cakes. soaked in strong and bitter espresso coffee, mascarpone-zabaglione cream and bitter cocoa powder. Alba and Ado Campeol, owners of the restaurant regret not having patented the name and the recipe, especially to avoid all speculation and conjecture about the origin of this cake, and the spread of so many recipes that have nothing to do with the original Tiramisu. ‘
I tried countless different recipes from the endless variations of Tiramisu ‘, but the classic, (the recipe that I show on my website), the recipe from the restaurant “Le Beccherie”, is still the one I prepare today and the one I prefer. .
As an example of one of the many delicious variations of Tiramisu ‘, I am showing on my website a step-by-step recipe for “Tiramisu’ with mixed berries” that is fast becoming a new classic.
Anna Maria Volpi November 20, 2003