Tour de tiramisù

In Treviso, the probable birthplace of the famed Italian dessert, DIANNE BORTOLETTO discovers the origins of tiramisù are trifled.

- DIANNE BORTOLETTO

Slowly rotating the plate to inspect the layers, I quell my impetuous niece who's ready, spoon raised, like a cat about to pounce on its prey. I explain that this is the original, legendary tiramisù, which warrants our attention before being devoured.

We are at Le Beccherie in Treviso, an elegant city in Veneto, 50 kilometres, or about 30 minutes by train, from Venice.

Perched on stools at a high table near the pass, the only available seats in the busy restaurant, I grab my iPhone and snap away. After several protests and "hurry ups", we each take a spoonful before harmonising our "mm-mmms" a cappella.

Their classic tiramisù is luscious and light, silky yet textured, with a good coffee hit, and a dusting of bitter cacao that's balanced with the sweet mascarpone cream.

Treviso's traditional tiramisù is made with six specific ingredients: bitter cocoa, coffee, mascarpone, savoiardi or ladyfinger biscuits, egg yolks (no whites) and granulated sugar.

Le Beccherie is widely accepted as the inventor of tiramisù because, in 1972, the restaurant claims it was the first to list it on a menu. However, the origin of the well-loved dessert is somewhat trifled.

One legend has it that it was served at a brothel in Treviso after "the act", to give an energy boost to customers before returning home to their wives. That brothel was called Tre Scalini, which closed in 1958, and it's said that the salacious nature of tiramisù was a deterrent for any public association.

Another is that in Veneto, a version of tiramisù was fed to pregnant women, nursing mothers and sick children to help build up their strength. In the mid-1950s and 1960s, this is what led Le Beccherie to develop the classic tiramisù we know today, and it's the reason it never contains liqueur.