A creamy dessert known throughout the world, it was created by mixing multiple recipes. Unlike other dishes of the Italian culinary tradition, tiramisu is relatively young, as it was invented around 1970. Many people claim to have been responsible for it, but we know that its birthplace was the city of Treviso, in the Veneto region.
An energetic dessert that is almost aphrodisiac
The name comes from the Italian tirami su, which means “pick me up” in English. This dessert indeed contains ingredients that can elevate body and spirit: namely eggs, sugar, coffee, and cocoa. The combination can make this dish almost an aphrodisiac, as evidenced by a legend that circulates among the people and restaurateurs of Treviso. They claim that this dessert was invented in a bordello at the beginning of the 20th century; the owner would mix these ingredients along with chocolate, cookies, mascarpone cheese and Marsala liquor, to create a cream that expedited her clients’ recovery from the labors of love.
The best of delicious desserts
Giuseppe Maffioli (an Italian cuisine expert, but also famed director and actor) wrote about the history of this dish in 1981. His article is the most validated version on the birth of tiramisu, and it mentions Roberto Lolu Linguagnotto, chef of the Treviso restaurant Alle Beccherie. The chef had worked in a German restaurant, where he learned how to make a perfect Bavarian cream, a dish that was influenced by French cuisine and by the trifle dessert, which was created in Tuscany. The chef mixed the Bavarian cream with mascarpone cheese, creating a unique dessert that spread across Italy and inspired slight variations on the theme: a sponge cake rendition, or cookies called savoiardi, or presence of other flavors such as yogurt, strawberries, limoncello liquor, and many more.
The right wine
This is not an easy dessert to pair with a wine, because of the numerous ingredients that it contains. The best choice is far and away a sweet white wine, but there is only one wine that is perfect for it: the Moscato d’Asti, a sparkling, sweet white wine.
