Today we're talking about one of the classics of coffee.
We're talking about the tiramisu.
It is an incredible Italian dessert recipe.
It is, I think, the best way to eat your coffee.
And to uncover its history and the story behind it,
I've come here to this city,
just north of Venice called Treviso,
'cause this is where the tiramisu was born.
And not only do I want to talk
to people who know about that,
I want to eat in the restaurant that still serves
what is the quintessential, kind of, original tiramisu.
That restaurant is called Le Beccherie,
and it opened in 1939,
and it's located just off the main square
in the heart of the city.
But before dinner there tonight, there are a few questions to answer.
The story of the tiramisu should be simple.
This recipe, as we know it, is less than 50 years old,
and that kind of blows my mind.
But in this story, there are, I think, unsung heroes.
There's controversy over who really did create the tiramisu
as we know it today.
More than that, I think about this recipe,
I think about how did we convince everyone
this was such a good idea?
Who said at the end of your meal
what you need is some coffee,
raw egg yolks, cheese, biscuits, and a little cocoa powder?
Then, everything will be fine.
But somehow it worked.
And somehow this recipe spread virally all over the world.
And I kind of want to know,
how did the tiramisu get just so popular?
Now, if you go and dig into any recipe,
any inception of a dish,
you're never gonna find like a clean, neat moment
of inspiration where suddenly it appears.
But I do want to dig into this recipe
that does appear at Le Beccherie
because this is the one that becomes notarized
by the Italian Academy of Cuisine.
This is the one that kind of becomes official.
So the timeframe we wanna explore is the 1960s.
Back then, Le Beccherie is a restaurant owned
and operated by Ado and Alba Campeol
Now this version of the recipe appears
in the restaurant, but I really feel it begins
in their home in the kitchen.
Now, we can't talk to Ado and Alba,
sadly, they passed away last year.
But we did sit down with Carlo, their son,
so we could hear his story
of the beginning of the recipe.
There's another person in this story
that we need to talk about,
the pastry chef at Le Beccherie, Roberto Linguanotto
known as Loli.
Now, we spoke to Loli's son, Massimo,
to get more of his side of the story.
There is one other story we should talk about,
the idea that the tiramisu began in the brothels of Treviso.
It existed there, was created there, as a kind
of aphrodisiac 'pick me up' for the patrons of those places.
I wanted to know if there was any truth whatsoever
in that story.
- So it is probable that there was a dessert called
tiramisu around the brothels of Treviso at that time,
made from similar ingredients, popular in the region.
But it was probably not the same dessert that we know
as tiramisu today.
So I feel like we know more about the history of tiramisu
than we might for almost any other dish,
in an interesting kind of way.
I feel like we can see that it pre-exists Le Beccherie
but that moment of definition that happens at Le Beccherie
is really interesting and it kind of codifies
or defines what the tiramisu is now
to most people around the world.
And talking to everyone and other people too,
it feels like tiramisu is powered by nostalgia
for many people.
Like it is the taste of the home to them.
And so when they travel, tiramisu reminds them of home.
And then there's the other kind of travel
I think that also played a big role from the 1980s onwards,
especially in the 1990s.
Tourism opens up, food tourism in particular,
it's cheaper to travel around Europe and people come
for a taste of Italy and they take that away with them.
And now I'm excited to taste something
because later tonight, I'm gonna go to Le Beccherie.
I'm gonna eat that tiramisu,
and I think I'm gonna enjoy it immensely.
I'm gonna inevitably load it with a lot of expectation.
That's kind of scary.
Seems a little unfair, almost.
But I think it's gonna be just
a really interesting point of definition,
but also a kind of moment
in the overall evolution of tiramisu
because it feels like it is something
that does change and evolve.
I'm excited.
That is good.
Let me just get one more.
Everything is perfectly balanced.
The coffee is there,
the mascarpone is there,
the chocolate is just nice.
The lady fingers soaked in coffee have a really nice texture
where there's just a little bit of bite.
They don't feel like wet and soggy.
They've got a little bit of resistance.
They're very good.
This particular tiramisu, like all great ones
is so much more than the sum of its parts.
In fact this one perhaps even more so
with its added layer of history and significance
I've been thinking a lot
about that tiramisu from last night.
I really enjoyed it.
I enjoyed the opportunity to taste a little piece
of history in the place that it was born.
That feels special.
I also don't feel the need to tear it to pieces.
You know, this is a recipe where I feel a kind
of weird permission to mess with it and make it mine,
to kind of chase my ultimate tiramisu.
I feel like that's what tiramisu is
to so many families here.
It's their version of that thing.
And I wanna make my version of that thing.
I am looking forward to it.
I think we're gonna do like a series of videos
where we can explore things
like recipe, technique, ingredients,
all of that kind of stuff is to come.
And actually, I want to hear
from you down in the comments below.
What do you wanna see me look at in this journey
to my ultimate tiramisu?
Let me know.
For now though, well, I've had a lovely little trip.
I hope you've learned something.
I hope you enjoy your tiramisu a little bit more,
knowing its place in history and kind of where it came from.
But for now, I'll say thank you so much for watching.
I hope you have a great day.