Being a huge fan of tiramisu — the classic Italian dessert — I’ve tried various kinds of tiramisu from places I’ve been to. At first, I had tiramisu simply because I love its sweet taste and creamy texture, but as I tried more kinds of tiramisu from different places, I observed a deeper cultural significance behind it.
Tiramisu, meaning “pick me up” in Italian, is made with mascarpone, the soft and buttery Italian double cream cheese, plus raw eggs, coffee espresso, sugar, cocoa powder, and ladyfingers. The ladyfingers are dipped in the coffee, and the mascarpone is mixed with the eggs and sugar. The play of textures and flavors is particularly appealing. Tiramisu combines the bitterness of espresso, the moistness of eggs, the sweetness of sugar, the mellowness of Marsala wine, the denseness of ladyfingers, and the creaminess of the mascarpone cheese.
I started my journey as an amateur tiramisu critic two years ago — I wasn’t a fan of sweets at first but became a fan of tiramisu shortly after my first taste. My tiramisu journey began in my home, Taiwan. Whenever I saw tiramisu — whether at a bakery, a supermarket, or a restaurant — I never left without getting one. Among the tiramisu I’ve gotten from Taiwan, there weren’t any significant differences aside from the degree of sweetness, the amount of cocoa powder, or the proportion of mascarpone cheese. Until I came to Boston for college, I finally got chances to explore more tiramisu outside of Asia.
I tried my first few tiramisus in Boston from the bakery section at the most common local markets, including Star Market, Trader Joe’s, and Whole Foods, which are the most casual and obtainable spots to get affordable desserts. I was shocked during the first few times tasting them. American-style tiramisu has a completely different taste from all the ones I’ve gotten in Taiwan. An American-style tiramisu twisted the Italian classic flavor by soaking soft-baked chocolate chip cookies, instead of ladyfingers, in the espresso, and adding a layer of berries, frosting, or whipped cream. Italians don’t eat fruits with whipped cream—at most, they might eat it with powdered sugar. I don’t hate American-style tiramisu at all, but I found it interesting that they add toppings commonly appreciated by Americans into an Italian dessert to make it localized and more appealing to the public, while still maintaining the original concept of the dessert. My observation of tiramisu and a broader significance of food culture intrigued me to explore more styles of tiramisu designed to fit the taste of locals.
Looking forward to getting the most authentic Italian tiramisu, I went to Eataly Boston, the world’s largest and most authentic artisanal Italian food and groceries marketplace. Astonishing me again, the authentic Italian tiramisu presents another distinguished flavor: the strong Marsala wine aroma. Asian-style or American-style tiramisu usually diminishes or leaves out the Marsala wine in the authentic recipe and substitutes it with vanilla extract in light of matching the local taste. In addition, tiramisu outside of European countries often applies whipped mascarpone cream and egg in pursuit of making the texture lighter and foamier while the classic Italian tiramisu preserves the solid texture by applying original mascarpone cheese and leaving the eggs without being whipped.
It is common for people from different cultural backgrounds to eat different food. People often establish connections with their own cultural or ethnic groups through similar food habits. With cultural mobility, food is often used as a means to maintain one’s cultural identities. The use of ingredients, preparation methods, and preservation techniques of the food vary among cultural backgrounds. Locations directly link to food preferences, which represent patterns of food choices within cultural groups.
Countries are often associated with certain foods. For instance, when it comes to desserts, many people associate Italy with pizza, pasta, and tiramisu. Yet, those are only tiny parts of the Italian diet, and the types of “signature Italian dishes” vary throughout Italy. Preparation methods and preferred food types vary by country or region.
There are many stories about tiramisu, and the most touching one happened on the battlefield during World War II when Italy sent troops to fight in the anti-fascist war. Tiramisu comes from the wife of an Italian soldier who was assigned to fight. As the expedition was about to go underway, the desperate and distressed wife was reluctant to let her husband go. Even so, there was not enough time left for her to bake a delicate and sweet cake as a farewell gift for her husband. In a rush, she mixed the cocoa powder, eggs, coffee, and mascarpone cheese at hand to bake a quick but nice cake, and placed it in the hands of her husband.
The sweaty and tearful wife came up with this simple but sincere dish for her husband. The sweet but bitter dessert that was filled with love from a wife was named “tiramisu,” the wife’s last words to her husband before he departed: “Please bring it with you, and please don’t forget me.”
Nowadays, the symbolic Italian dessert has become one of the most popular desserts all over the world. The cultural dissemination and the cultural integration observed in the spread and localization of tiramisu corresponds to the words captioned by the wife who made this dessert when she sent her husband away: “Please bring it with you.” It is a pleasure to see each country/region making subtle changes to the authentic recipe in order to help the dessert fit in better.
More importantly, it is amazing and encouraging to see people around the world showing their appreciation of tiramisu without abandoning the original concept of the dessert.
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