L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JANUARY 27, 2022 www.italoamericano.org 16 L'Italo-Americano LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE D e a r R e a d e r s , A s 2022 begins, my little corner of the w o r l d , t h e " I t a l i a n C o n n e c t i o n " column (since 1977) has been comfortably ensconced i n t h e p a g e s o f L ' I t a l o - Americano for nearly forty- f i v e y e a r s . T h r o u g h t h e y e a r s , I h a v e s p o t l i g h t e d s u b j e c t s f r o m A t o Z (Alberobello to Zabaglione) b u t t h e c o l u m n t h a t h a s generated the most mail and reprint requests since it first appeared in 1999, was my column on tiramisù. Since we can all use a "pick-me- up" in January, here we go again: Dear Italian Connection, W h a t e x a c t l y i s t h i s "tiramisù" dessert I've been f i n d i n g o n r e s t a u r a n t menus lately? Where did it originate? I've looked in a d o z e n I t a l i a n c o o k b o o k s a n d i t i s n o w h e r e t o b e found. M.R. Cara M.R., I k n o w a l l a b o u t t i r a m i s ù b e c a u s e a b o u t seven years ago, I had the pleasure of meeting (editor in 1999) Mario Trecco's sis- ter Idelma and her husband V i t t o r i o T o r t e l l a i n S a n F r a n c i s c o . T h e y t o l d m e that they owned a pastry shop and bar in Pescatina (Verona). I asked Idelma what was the "specialty of the house," and she said: tiramisù. As I wanted to know what i t w a s , s h e t o l d m e t h a t Vittorio, her husband, who i s t h e p a s t i c c e r e ( p a s t r y baker) of the house, knew the whole, true story. And he began: "The first tiramisù was made quite by accident. A group of businessmen con- cluded a long day by having a dinner in the restaurant of Hotel Carletto in Treviso, s o m e 2 0 m i l e s n o r t h o f Venice. I knew the chef of that restaurant: he was also a good pastry baker. At the end of the dinner, the group of men asked the chef, 'Now we need a nice dessert to p i c k u s u p ! ' ( T h e I t a l i a n words used were per tirarci su). The chef did not have any ready-made dessert, but he said, 'I'll prepare some- thing for you in no time!' "He put together some m a s c a r p o n e ( a k i n d o f Italian butter-like ricotta), e g g y o l k s a n d s u g a r ; h e i n s e r t e d s o m e s a v o i a r d i c o o k i e s ( L a d y F i n g e r s ) soaked in a coffee-liquor of low alcoholic content, and he served it in a cup, after s p r a y i n g s o m e w h i p p e d cream on top, together with a sprinkle of cocoa powder. "Before long, this tasty treat, tiramisù, was being duplicated all over Italy." A m e r i c a n f o o d e d i t o r s who had visited Venice were e x c i t e d l y t e l l i n g t h e i r A m e r i c a n r e a d e r s a b o u t their latest Italian dessert discovery, tiramisù, describ- ing it as a "simple-to-make" luxurious Italian dessert, consisting of alternating lay- ers of mascarpone cheese and Lady Fingers delicately soaked in espresso, with a hint of Marsala or liqueur." Upscale Italian restau- rants from the Atlantic to the Pacific suddenly sprout- e d t i r a m i s ù v e r s i o n s f o r their menus. Unfortunately, some efforts were more "let m e d o w n " t h a n " p i c k m e up." But practice makes per- fect, and some local versions of tiramisù are really quite good. S i n c e t h e p a n d e m i c , I h a v e n o t b e e n o n m y "tiramisù" tasting trail as m u c h b u t i n t h e l a s t t e n d a y s I h a v e b e e n t o I l Fornaio - In Marin County Corte Madea and Vixie - In S a n F r a n c i s c o , 3 6 1 1 C a l i f o r n i a S t . a n d t h e tiramisù is still superb. In my reply to Signora M.R. I said: T h e r e a s o n y o u c a n n o t find a good tiramisù recipe in most cookbooks is that it is not an old Italian special- ty with a long heritage, but a relatively new one, inspired by a tired customer and a pastry baker and his wife in Treviso, who were simply doing their best to provide g o o d o l d - f a s h i o n e d c u s - tomer service. Since you won't find it in the older cookbooks, here is a recipe for tiramisù that I cut off a package of Lady Finger cookies. You can sub- stitute soft cream cheese or Advancing our Legacy: Italian Community Services CASA FUGAZI If you know of any senior of Italian descent in San Francisco needing assistance, please contact: ItalianCS.org | (415) 362-6423 | info@italiancs.com Italian Community Services continues to assist Bay Area Italian-American seniors and their families navigate and manage the resources needed to live healthy, independent and productive lives. Since Shelter-in-Place began in San Francisco, Italian Community Services has delivered over 240 meals, over 900 care packages and made over 2000 phone wellness checks for our seniors. ricotta for the mascarpone cheese if you cannot find it easily, but the quality will suffer. Add a little liqueur to this, if you like. Tiramisù (Makes 4 to 6 servings) 7 oz. champagne biscuits or lady Fingers 7 oz. mascarpone (ricotta or cream cheese) 2 eggs, separated 2 oz. of sugar 1 cup of espresso or very strong black coffee Cocoa for dusting Separate the eggs, beat egg yolks and sugar together into a smooth creamy con- sistency. Add the mascar- pone cheese and fold in the stiffly beaten egg whites. Soak the Lady Fingers in the coffee. L i n e t h e b o t t o m o f a n o b l o n g m o l d o r p a n w i t h half the Lady Fingers and spread over half the cream mixture. Cover with remain- ing Lady Fingers and rest of the cream mixture. Dust top with cocoa. Chill until served. I suggest that you use a package of Matilde Vincenzi c h a m p a g n e L a d y F i n g e r s b i s c u i t s i m p o r t e d f r o m Giovanni Lupatoto, Verona, if you can find them, but any Lady Fingers are fine. Since the 1990s, tiramisù has become very popular, and it's even been prepared by Nick Stellino on Oprah's TV program in a low-calorie version. I think they used egg whites and reduced the amount of whipping cream. In the meantime, do your own thing. I like mine heavy on the soaked-with-espresso Lady Fingers, and topped with ground chocolate chips, cocoa, and coffee beans, not quite the low-calorie version b u t a p i c k - m e - u p i t d o e s deliver…

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