Who doesn’t love Tiramisu? This creamy cake is a delicious adventure that marries soft touches of cocoa with a nice, energetic jolt of coffee.
Italians themselves consider Tiramisu the most Italian dessert. And, as it often happens with Italian cuisine, the legend around this cake offers some quirky, interesting, delicious facts.
A Funny Name
“Tiramisu” means “Pick me up” in Italian, or more precisely, in the dialect of Treviso, a city in northeastern Italy. As the name suggests, this dessert is reinvigorating and shakes you awake with its mix of cocoa, coffee and carbohydrates. Apparently, this was the intention from the very beginning, since Tiramisu is related to Sbatudin, a dessert made with beaten egg yolk and sugar that Treviso farmers believed had restorative properties.
A “Young” Dessert
Italy has a noble culinary tradition and is famous for the Mediterranean diet, that is the product of centuries of gastronomic trial and error. With those facts in mind it would be easy to assume that Tiramisu is at least a couple of centuries old. But that would be a mistake. Although the origins of Sbatudin, the Tiramisu forebear, date back to the 18th century, Tiramisu itself was created fairly recently, in 1970, in the Teviso café Alle Beccherie, that has since closed its doors.
In a unusual twist for a dessert so popular, we know who is the creator of Tiramisu: Roberto “Loli” Linguanotto, who used to work as a pastry chef at Alle Beccherie.
Crazy for Tiramisu
This cake is so delicious that it arouses heated discussions and outpourings of affection in Italy. There is a never-ending war over the authorship of Tiramisu, although the version you can read here seems to be the most supported. In addition, Italy holds the record for the longest Tiramisu (897 ft 3 in!) and there is a Tiramisu World Cup that takes place in Treviso (where else?!)
At Creative Ideas Catering we have mastered the secrets of a great Tiramisu. This Italian star is part of our lineup of celebration cakes, and it’s sure to delight and intrigue your guests.
We’re located in San Francisco. Contact us today to learn more about our Tiramisu and all the other delicious options we have for your catered event.
Send us an email, order online or give us a call ((415) 828-9143) to learn more about our catering services and our original fusion of global cuisine with Latin flavors.