Dessert warfare over birthplace of tiramisu
TIRAMISU, a rich concoction of marsala, mascarpone and sponge fingers, is one of the world’s most popular desserts, but it has brought nothing but bitterness between two rival regions in Italy.
Veneto and neighbouring Friuli Venezia Giulia have for years been locked in a battle over which can claim to be its true birthplace.
Friuli Venezia Giulia has scored a significant victory in the culinary clash after persuading the Italian government to officially decree tiramisu as one of its traditional dishes.
It has been included on a list of prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali, or traditional food products, as originating from the towns of Udine and Gorizia, both in Friuli Venezia Giulia, a region that abuts Austria and Slovenia in Italy’s north-east.
“It’s been recognised as being characteristic of this region,” said Cristiano Shaurli, a regional politician.
“This is a really important result and it fills us with satisfaction. We’re proud to have finally obtained a result that sanctifies once and for all the links between tiramisu and Friuli Venezia Giulia, earning gastronomic prestige for the entire region.” The Friulians insist their claim is backed by historical records, unearthed by Clara and Gigi Padovani, food writers who found recipes from the 1950s referring to a dessert called “tirime su” or “tirimi su” being produced in the region, including at a restaurant in the town of Tolmezzo in 1959.
But the Friulians’ claim to fame has been met with outrage in the Veneto region, which has long claimed that the dessert was created in a restaurant in the town of Treviso in the 1970s.
Luca Zaia, the governor of Veneto, is threatening legal action. “I’m literally thunderstruck in response to this decree,” he said. “It seems to me that someone has given the ministry not entirely accurate documentation.
“The ministry has effectively said that it counts for nothing that 5 million Veneto people recognise tiramisu as one of their typical dishes and that it counts for nothing we have an industry based on this product. I ask the ministry to suspend the decree.”
Veneto insists it was invented by Ada Campeol at her restaurant in Treviso, when she craved something to give her an energy boost after the birth of her son.