News edited by Tiziano Taffarello (President of Tiramisù Academy)
The Sbatudin
The origin of the most beloved dessert in the world takes us back in time, in the territory of Treviso. The first testimonies of this sweet date back to the peasant tradition of Treviso: the sbatudin. This is the germ from which Tiramisù was born and then developed. Egg yolk beaten and whipped with sugar to become a frothy cream, called tonic. Already in the nineteenth century in the province of Treviso it was prepared and consumed this cream, primordial base of Tiramisù. Every grandmother and mother used to customize the cream with the addition of other ingredients following the tastes of the family: coffee, liqueur, white wine, biscuits, butter, ricotta, cocoa, etc.
Science in cooking and the art of eating well, Pellegrino Artusi
The Puerperal Biscuits
Proof that a dessert with characteristics similar to tiramisu was consumed in the territory of the province of Treviso in 1800 is the authoritative source of Pellegrino Artusi (1820-1911), a giant of Italian gastronomy. Artusi writer and gastronome wrote a book entitled "The science in cooking and the Art of Eating Well" and can be considered the "Garibaldi" of the recipes of Italian cuisine. In 1891 came out the first edition of the book that unites Italy under a single flag even in the kitchen. This volume is considered the first important historical document to date the period and geography of a dish or a course of Italian cuisine. In the sixth edition of the book, published in 1902, Artusi inserted a recipe of the city of Conegliano (TV): the "Puerperal Biscuits". As Pellegrino Artusi writes, it is actually improper to call the latter "biscuits", since they are eaten with a spoon, like Tiramisu. By carefully analyzing the recipe of puerperal biscuits, we note three basic ingredients of modern-day Tiramisu: egg yolk, sugar and cocoa. Cocoa and butter were added to the sbatudin cream.
Historical and Social Evolution of the Treviso Tiramisù
Over time, other ingredients were added to the recipe, such as coffee, biscuits or bread crumbs. Certainly the Tiramisù of Treviso is the result of a historical-social and gastronomic evolution. Each family has its own way of preparing and interpreting it, making Tiramisu a mirror of the history of its territory. In the nineteenth century, in the homes of the people of Treviso, Tiramisu was prepared differently according to social classes. In the homes of the noble families the sponge cake of Austrian taste and tradition was used as a support (influence of the Viennese pastry shops of the Habsburg Emperors), while in the homes of poor families the bread crumb ("pan vecio") was used. Each family had its own way of preparing and interpreting it, adding some new ingredients to give body to the primordial tiramisù: ricotta, cream, mascarpone, bread crumbs, savoy biscuits, cocoa, white wine, etc. This is how Tiramisu has evolved over time, up to the present day, with the traditional recipe of Treviso and its six ingredients: cocoa, coffee, mascarpone, savoy biscuits, egg yolk and sugar.
Giovanni Comisso (1895-1969) - Giuseppina Tiretta (1829-1917)
Exegesis of the Tiramisu of Treviso
Prof. Manlio Brusatin of Asolo, a private friend of Giovanni Comisso, with his super partes memory, provides scientific evidence on the Treviso origins of Tiramisù, founded on conversations with the Treviso writer Comisso, in the winter of 1968. In one of his publications, Exegesi del Tiramisù in the magazine The Venice International Foundation (Speciale l'arte del gusto) of 2005, he reports this fascinating story of Tiramisù in Treviso. The testimonial of Tiramisù in the nineteenth century in Treviso is certainly the Countess Giuseppina Tiretta (1829 -1917), grandmother of Giovanni Comisso. Giuseppina Tiretta was a “pasionaria” of the Italian Risorgimento, a noble woman active in family and politics. Giovanni Comisso, "Apostle capitulate" of Tiramisu, wrote in his memoirs, and recounted to close friends, that "her grandmother, Josephine Tiretta, a descendant of Count Edward Tiretta, was a devotee of Tiramisu (or rather of the tirame su, in venetian dialect) and often ate it as a regular winter dinner." Countess Tiretta, driven by an unbridled hatred of the Austrians, participated with her family in the conspiracies of the Risorgimento riots of 1848 in Treviso. In this fiery climate, the noble woman, actively engaged in the struggle of the Risorgimento, imported from Piedmont savoiardi biscuits to give a signal even in the kitchen. There is a strong bond between the Tiretta family and Turin, in fact, for a certain period, the Tiretta dynasty was the owner of the prestigious Palazzo Lascaris in the historic center of the city. Savoiardi are the representative biscuits of the Savoy royal house from the Middle Ages. So grandma Giuseppina Tiretta started preparing Tiramisù in Treviso with the savoiardi. The choice of this ingredient was a form of revolt towards Austrian tastes and a symbolic and patriotic message of openness of the Veneto towards the Kingdom of Italy of Savoy that was being born. With the passion of a mother and the interest of a politician he taught his children and grandchildren to prepare Tiramisu made with savoiardi. This is how the "made in Italy" brand of Tiramisù was born: the choice of savoiardi linked to the flag of Italy. Even the use of mascarpone as an ingredient for this cake has a similar historical path. This Lombard cheese from the Lodi area (on the road between Turin and Treviso) began to spread in northern Italy and Europe in the nineteenth century. Knight of this ingredient was Count Evangelista Bignami, captain of the Green Hunters on horseback of the Imperial Guard of Napoleon I. Count Bignami, of noble Milanese family (intrepid patriot in the five days of Milan) married Countess Loredana Caterina Tiretta and therefore we find in her figure the driver who accompanied the mascarpone on his journey from Lodi to Treviso. We can thus say with certainty, that grandmother Tiretta’s 19th century tiramisu is an icon of the Italian Risorgimento and carries within it the gastronomic revolt against Austrian tastes. The choice of mascarpone (especially in families that are more economically inclined) also showed the will to unite the Lombard-Venetian kingdom. Recall that communication in past centuries often took the form of indirect symbolism, causing censorship, and this is an appropriate example.
Storia delle case chiuse in Italia e in Veneto, Walter Basso, published by Editoriale Programma
Tirame Su
The oral tradition of the people of Treviso tells that this cake would have been born and evolved into a house of pleasure in the center of Treviso. The maîtresse of the restaurant would have created this sweet aphrodisiac and energetic to give it to her customers at the end of the evenings. It is said that, the "hostess", greeted the customers with a slice of cake shouting: "Desso ve tiro su mi "(now I pull you up). It is not known how this cake was served, but it certainly strengthened the body and soul of the guests of the restaurant. Numerous testimonies report this true story, from Alfredo Beltrame, Arturo Filippini, former patron of the restaurant El Toula, Boccazzi and the pastry chef Loris Casellato. These people listened, among the tables of their premises, to the "spicy confessions" of customers who frequented certain brothels, in the district between the Duomo and the church of San Nicolò in Treviso. A huge embarrassment and a veil of shame hid these stories until the early seventies. In this period, thanks to the change of customs due to the cultural and social movements of 1968, we begin to talk and write freely about this cake and to reveal the secrets hidden for some time.
The Tiramisù of Treviso and the Beccherie
The Tiramisù was officially born at the Restaurant Le Beccherie in Treviso in 1970. This is what the delegation of the Accademia Italiana della Cucina established with a birth certificate. The Campeol family included first in the menu of their restaurant the name Tiramisu taken from the popular tradition of Treviso.
Quarterly magazine of wine and gastronomy "Vin Veneto" of 1981 (n.1 year VII) Oggi Taste Vin Bimonthly by Enogastronomia
Tiramisu of Treviso in the 1981 magazine Vin Veneto
Giuseppe Maffioli, actor, writer and journalist can be considered the father certifier of the Treviso-based origin of Tiramisù. Maffioli, Bepo for his friends, in the quarterly magazine of wine and gastronomy "Vin Veneto" of 1981 (n.1 year VII), strictly historicizes the preparation of the dessert by locating it at the restaurant "Alle Beccherie" of Treviso. Here’s the excerpt from the magazine. "It was born recently, just over two decades ago, a dessert in the city of Treviso, the 'Tiramesù', which was proposed for the first time in the restaurant 'Alle Beccherie' by a certain pastry chef named Loli Linguanotto who, by chance, came from recent work experience in Germany. The sweet and its name 'Tiramisù', as nutritious and restorative food, immediately became very popular and revived, with absolute fidelity or with some variation, not only in the restaurants of Treviso and province, but also throughout the great Veneto and beyond, throughout Italy. By itself it is basically a 'Zuppa Inglese with coffee', but it was not yet 'Tiramesù', and it must be admitted that the 'name' has its own prestigious importance."
La cucina trevigiana, Giuseppe Maffioli, published by Franco Muzzio Editore
Tiramisù of Treviso in the text "La cucina trevigiana"
In 1983 the enogastronome Giuseppe Maffioli reported the original recipe of the Tiramisu of Treviso in his book "La cucina trevigiana", certifying it as the legitimate Tiramisù of Beccherie (p. 423 of the book). A super partes testimony, the writer Bepo uses an adjective with a strong meaning of belonging: legitimate. He was also the first journalist in the world to write variants of the Tiramisu recipe. This sweet aphrodisiac was known and consumed in all the families of the province of Treviso, in restaurants, trattorias and inns.
The Tiramisu in the World
The people of Treviso migrated to Italy and abroad were the first to spread the traditional recipe of Treviso around the world. Many citizens of Treviso have brought with them and in their suitcase this magical formula of sweetness. According to the writer Giovanni Comisso, to the diffusion of Tiramisù, first contributed the restaurant "Le Beccherie" of Treviso, which legitimized the original recipe, then the restaurant "Toulà" of Alfredo Beltrame from Treviso, with its chain of restaurants in Italy and abroad.
Tiramisu of Treviso Notary Deed
On 15 October 2010, three members of the Treviso delegation of the Accademia Italiana della Cucina -Istituto culturale della Repubblica- deposited a Notarial Deed (No. 7947 at the Notaio Ferretto Lorenzo, in Treviso) containing a dossier on how to prepare tiramisu, with the aim of safeguarding the gastronomic traditions of the territory. The booklet mentions the historical and gastronomic news spread by the writer Giuseppe Maffioli, the authenticity of the original recipe of the dessert at the Beccherie restaurant, thanks to the pastry chef Loli Roberto Linguanotto, and finally the procedures of preparation of the traditional recipe.
In 2012, at the University of Trento, the first thesis on Tiramisu was written and presented worldwide. Dr Ilaria Ziliotto, from Borso del Grappa (TV), discussed the thesis "Cultural Experiences in Italian Oenogastronomic Tourism: Treviso, the city of Tiramisù", at the Faculty of Letters and Philosophy of Trento. This university treatise also confirms the Tiramisù as a patrimony of the territory of Treviso, reporting historical information and citations with relative bibliography.
Delivery certificate "Historical place for the recipe of Tiramisu of Treviso"
Tiramisù di Treviso e riconoscimenti alle Beccherie
Il 20 marzo 2019, l’Accademia del Tiramisù, rappresentata del Presidente Tiziano Taffarello, ha consegnato a Paolo Lai, titolare del ristorante Le Beccherie, l’attestato di “Locale storico per la ricetta del Tiramisù di Treviso”.
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