Tiramisu is a coffee-flavored dessert that is made of ladyfingers, which are British biscuits, and layered with a whipped mixture of sugar, eggs, and mascarpone cheese, flavored with chocolate or cocoa. The recipe for this famous dessert has been adapted into different varieties of cakes and other desserts. In Italy, tiramisu means “carry me up.” It may also mean “pick me up” or “cheer me up.”
This dessert is probably the most famous cake in the world that you will be able to find in restaurants around Europe and the United States. With this, different Italian regions are always competing for the origin of tiramisu. If you are also curious about the tiramisu origin and want to learn more about it, you’re in the right place. Today, we are giving you more information about the history of tiramisu.
Tiramisu’s Origin
Tiramisu appears to have been invented back in the 1960s or 1970s. However, the place and the exact time it was invented are quite unclear. Before the 1960s, recipes called “tiramisu” are unknown in cookbooks. It first appeared in print in Italian in 1980 and in English in 1982.
Some accounts of the origin of tiramisu claim that it was invented in the region of Veneto, Italy, specifically at a restaurant called “Le Beccherie” in Treviso back in the 1960s. The dish is unambiguously claimed to have first been made by a confectioner named Roberto Loli Linguanotto, the owner of the said restaurant. He supposedly created it on December 24, 1969. Sometimes, it is also claimed that Tiramisu has aphrodisiac effects and was usually served in brothels in Treviso.
Aside from this, there were other claims on the origin of tiramisu. One of those is that it was made towards the end of the 17th century in Siena, in honor of the Grand Duke Cosimo III. But not much information about it was available.
There’s also evidence of a “Tiremesu,” which was a semi-frozen dessert served since 1938 by the Vetturino restaurant in Pieris, in the Friuli Venezia Giulia. This may be the original name, while the recipe may have originated as a variation of another layered dessert called Zuppa Inglese.
It was in 1993 when the interest in Tiramisu increased in the United States when the protagonist of Tom Hanks in the comedy Sleepless in Seattle heard of it only as a mysterious thing that modern women are fond of.
Among all the claims of the origin of tiramisu, many believe that it was Roberto Loli Linguanotto who truly invented it. He continued his carrier traveling and left Treviso. But he often came back to Beccherie to observe the success of his tiramisu each year. From his restaurant, the dessert became well-known and highly demanded. With that, it spread over Italy and then outside the national borders after decades, reaching different countries around the world.
The Original Tiramisu Recipe
If you want to learn how to create the tiramisu served in Treviso, here are the tiramisu ingredients that you need:
- 500 grams of mascarpone cheese
- 6 egg yolks
- 200 grams of sugar
- 300 grams of Ladyfingers
- Bitter coffee
- Unsweetened cocoa powder
The original tiramisu recipe does not include whipped cream. It’s an ingredient that was introduced years later. The cream needs to be soft, almost liquid. It should also be sweet but not too sugary. The ladyfingers also need to be wet perfectly in the coffee, but not too much. They should not flake off or leave liquid on the cream.
To create the original tiramisu, you need to beat the eggs with sugar first until they become spumy. After that, add the mascarpone cheese and blend it gently. With a moka, prepare the bitter coffee and let it cool down on a dish. Then, dip the ladyfingers quickly. After that, place them in a pan and cover them with a generous layer of cream. Repeat this for the second layer. Lastly, sprinkle it with unsweetened cocoa powder.
When served, the original tiramisu has to strain, and it needs to be eaten using a spoon. It should not be cut into slices with a knife.
Conclusion
No matter what the real origin of tiramisu is, nothing can change the fact that it is still among the most delicious desserts out there. Today, you can find many different versions of tiramisu from different parts of the world. They also come in various flavors, and many other ingredients are being added to them to make them taste more delicious. We hope this article helped you learn more about tiramisu’s history.