Italy says farewell to Roberto Linguanotto, the famous pastry chef credited with creating the world-famous tiramisu dessert. Linguanotto has died at the age of 81 after a long illness, snob.ru reports, citing Corriere della Sera.
Also known as Roberto Loli, Linguanotto was born in 1943 in Treviso. It was in this city, while working at the Le Beccherie restaurant, that he developed and standardized the recipe for tiramisu, an exquisite dessert made with coffee, biscuits and mascarpone cream.
The history of tiramisu is shrouded in legend. Ado Campeol, the former owner of Le Beccherie, claimed that the dessert was created by chance, thanks to a mistake by his wife Alba and Linguanotto. However, the authorship of this popular delicacy is disputed by other establishments, including the hotel “Roma” in the Friuli region.
Interestingly, in 2006, the Baltimore Sun suggested that the true inventor of tiramisu may have been Carminantonio Iannacone, who supplied desserts to Le Beccherie.