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What
Is Real
Tiramisu?
Samantha asks: I never know what I'm getting when I order tiramisu in a restaurant. Sometimes it comes out like a slice of cake. Sometimes they scoop it like pudding. I heard you say that some restaurant has a tiramisu in the shape of a Yule log. What's the authentic one? Tom sez: I've wondered this myself. Italians I've asked have told me both that it can be made like a layer cake and that it can be made with soft ladyfinger cookies (the scooped kind). I've noticed that no Italian I've spoken with has risen into doctrinaire mode and declared that only this way or that was is the right way, as I find they usually do about every food issue. So I'm inclined to believe that either is authentic. On the other hand, tiramisu is of relatively recent invention--perhaps no more than twenty years. The word (it's really three words shoved together, tira mi su) literally means "pick me up." It's so called because the cake (or ladyfingers) are brushed generously with espresso, before being layered with sweetened mascarpone cheese and dusted on top with cocoa or even slivered chocolate. (The dessert is evolving even as we speak.) It is (or should be) very light, so much so that yu practically inhale it. Then the jolt of espresso moves in. In Italy, tiramisu have become popular as a groom's cake at wedding receptions. The groom probably does need a pick-me-up. I had one at my own wedding. Revised 3/10/08 Copyright © 2008 Tom Fitzmorris. All rights reserved. |
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