The Tiramisu is perhaps one of the most popular desserts in the world, the fifth best-known word in Italian cuisine abroad, the first for desserts. Its name means "lift me up" and comes from the Treviso dialect "Tireme su," which underwent Italianization in the last decades of the last century.
But what are the origins, between history and legend, of this delicacy so beloved by gourmands all over the world?
The tiramisu was born in Treviso in the second half of the eighteenth century, conceived by an ingenious "maitresse" of a pleasure house located in Piazzetta Ancilotto, in the historic center in Treviso. Apparently, the "Siora" mistress of the establishment would devise this aphrodisiac dessert for her customers in order to invigorate them and lift their spirits at the time of their return to the family amidst marital problems.
"Desso ve tiro su mi," apparently was the phrase with which the comely maître d' welcomed her guests, an expression that later gave the dessert its name.
Since then, local inns and then pastry shops have equipped their menus and spaces with tiramisu, the dessert made from "sbatudin", a mixture of beaten eggs with sugar, ladyfingers, mascarpone, coffee and cocoa. The recipe and its simple preparation also support this claim, you do not have to be a star chef to prepare this dessert; anyone can do it and without any special tools.
Soon, however, the origins of tiramisu were supplanted by a wave of historical respectability that occurred in the second half of the 1900s.
Commonly used by farming families in the Treviso area as a restorative or for newlyweds, tiramisu is traditionally given as a gift to women who have just given birth, children, and people in a weakened state.
The writer and poet John Comisso (1895-1969) was the most informed witness to the Tiramisu recipe, recounting that his grandmother, a descendant of Count Odoardo Tiretta, was a devotee of the tiramisu.
Another hypothesis about the origins of this dessert, takes us back to Tuscany, to Siena. In fact, it seems that on the occasion of a visit by Grand Duke Cosimo III de' Medici, a dessert called "zuppa del duca" was invented with characteristics very similar to tiramisu.
However, something does not add up in this legend: first, the fact that both ladyfingers and mascarpone were little used in Sienese pastry between the 17th and 18th centuries. Not only that: mascarpone was an ingredient that could hardly be stored and transported from Lombardy to Tuscany quickly.
Others argue instead that tiramisu has Emilian origins: the writer, gastronome and literary critic Pellegrino Artusi described the recipe in his book titled "Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well" in 1891. In this case, the dessert was called Sweet Turin and saw the use of butter instead of mascarpone.
Finally, there is the Piedmontese origin, which has it that tiramisu was created by a Turin confectioner to give support to Camillo Benso Count of Cavour during his political activity to unify the Italian territory.
Want to learn the original recipe and techniques for making great tiramisu and many other typical desserts? Don't miss the next edition of the pastry course by Italian Food Academy.
