It is one of the most well known desserts of the Italian tradition, Tiramisù, which literally means: lift me up!

The authorship of this dessert has been for a long time a cause for contention between Friuli and our neighbouring region, Veneto, but in 2017 it was recognized as a product born in Friuli. It was nonetheless the Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies, which has included tiramisu among the agri-food products of Friuli Venezia Giulia.

This famous dessert has two well-documented variants linked to the locality of Pieris, near Monfalcone, and Tolmezzo, in the mountainous region of Carnia.

The original version, originally named "Coppa Vetturino" in Pieris, dated back to 1935, when it was created by Mario Cosolo, who enlisted for military service in the kitchen brigade of the Royal Navy as a pastry chef, was embarked on the royal yacht Savoia.

Called to participate in a pastry competition for King Vittorio Emanuele II, the dessert he prepared stood out as the best recipe.

Discharged from the navy in 1939, he returned to his family restaurant, “Al Vetturino”, where he proposed in the menu the winning dessert with the name of “Coppa Vetturino”. A further proof is a 1950s poster that portrays Mario Cosolo, with the cup dessert that had been called “Tirime sù”, by some customers from Trieste.

In this version the dessert consists of a layer of chocolate mousse, a layer of sponge cake soaked in liqueur and a layer of zabaglione mousse.

Another reinterpretation of the dessert was developed in Carnia, and it has become a real national symbol which is now appreciated all over the world. Its origins can be found in the city of Tolmezzo in the 1950s, at "Albergo Ristorante Roma". Some patrons, attending the restaurant on their return from the ski slopes, realized how that dessert could restore energy after a good skiing. They called the owner of the restaurant and said that the dessert had reinvigorated them, it had “lifted them up". And so it was that the dessert, in its final version took on the name “Tiramisù” or “Tirimi sù” in the Friulian language in 1953/54.

It is a spoon dessert served in cold in slices and it is prepared using: eggs, sugar, mascarpone, ladyfingers, coffee, bitter cocoa.

This is our family recipe that replaces the ladyfingers with Pavesini, a type of cookie that is thinner than ladyfingers... You got it right, Pavesini !!!

We really like it because the dessert comes out really creamy. Ingredients: 5 eggs, 500 gr. of mascarpone, 5 tablespoons of sugar, 1 packet of pavesini, coffee, bitter cocoa.

Procedure: separate the egg whites from the yolks that you will mount with the sugar, add the mascarpone and the beaten egg yolks, mix until you get a cream. In a pan, start composing the Tiramisu alternating layers of cream with the pavesini soaked in coffee. Complete it by sprinkling the bitter cocoa on the surface.

Easy, fast, very tasty …