Italy

Savoiardi biscuits dipped in strong coffee, alternated with a cream of mascarpone, egg yolks and sugar, chilled for several hours and finished with a dusting of cocoa: tiramisù is assembled, never baked, and it comes from north-eastern Italy. The name means pick me up, a nod to the coffee and sugar. It is young by Italian standards. Treviso, in the Veneto, has the strongest documented claim, with the restaurant Le Beccherie serving it from the early 1970s and the first printed recipe appearing in 1981, though Friuli Venezia Giulia argues for earlier versions under other names. Both regions agree on the structure, which is what matters to anyone eating one: coffee-soaked biscuit, mascarpone cream, cocoa, nothing else. Alcohol, cream and chocolate shavings are later additions.

The cream is the whole dessert. Egg yolks are beaten with sugar until pale and thick, then mascarpone is folded in cold, a little at a time, so the mixture stays smooth and holds its shape without whipping cream or gelatine. In the Treviso version the whites are beaten separately and folded in for lightness; many restaurants now pasteurise the yolks over a bain-marie or with hot syrup for safety, which is fine if the cream stays glossy. The coffee should be real espresso or strong moka coffee, cooled, barely sweetened, and the savoiardi should be dipped for a second a side, not soaked, so they turn tender but keep a trace of structure. Two layers of each is standard. The assembled dish rests in the fridge for at least four hours, better overnight, so the biscuit absorbs the cream's moisture and the layers knit together. Cocoa goes on just before serving, otherwise it turns damp and grey.

A good slice holds its shape on the plate and shows clean, distinct layers. The cream should be smooth and faintly sweet, with the slight tang of mascarpone, and it should not weep liquid at the base. Biscuits that have dissolved into mush mean over-soaking; biscuits still dry in the centre mean the dish was served too early. Taste for coffee: it should be clearly present and a little bitter, not a vague brown sweetness. Mark down whipped cream in the mix, which makes it airy and bland, stabilised versions that feel waxy, a boozy top note so strong it reads as liqueur cake, and chocolate curls, strawberries or caramel on top. A supermarket tub decanted into a glass is easy to spot: uniform texture, no layers, sweetness without any bitterness.

Onur Ayhan

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