He had been ill for some time. “Thanks to Linguanotto, tiramisu has become a dessert of international stature,” said the President of the Veneto Region, Luca Zaia, in tribute to Linguanotto on X (formerly Twitter).
The word “tiramisu” means “pull me up” in English. The name was first used in 1970 in Linguanotto’s restaurant Le Beccherie in Treviso. From there, the name quickly spread around the world.
Coincidence played a role
Legend has it that while making vanilla ice cream, the chef Linguanotto dropped a spoonful of mascarpone into a bowl containing a mixture of eggs and sugar that had already been beaten. When Linguanotto took the spoon out and licked it, he was so impressed by the taste that he developed his own dessert out of it.
Tiramisu consists of alternating layers of ladyfingers and a cream made from mascarpone, sugar and eggs. The ladyfingers are drizzled with cold espresso flavoured with Marsala or Amaretto. The dessert is layered and then chilled for several hours to set. Before serving, the cream layer on top is generously dusted with cocoa powder.
