News - My favourite...

09/09/2010 It goes without saying that the entire team at Cottages to Castles have a real passion for all things Italian!

Be it the food (let’s face it there is plenty to choose from), the breathtaking land and seascapes, the people, the fashion, the culture and history, the cars, the traditions . . . . . oh, the list is endless.

So every month, one of the team will let you in on their very own favourite Italian treat. And to kick things off, I thought I would share with you my Italian guilty pleasure..... no, not my Pavarotti Live In Concert album. But the delicious, mouth watering dessert that is worth skipping the previous three courses – Tiramisu.
 
Tiramisu is considered a semi-freddo dessert, served cold but not frozen and has become a well-known Italian dessert around the globe. Meaning ‘pick me up’, is it due to the high energy content of eggs, sugar and of course caffeine, or is it just the delicious yummy goodness of the cream and sponge?

It is said that the dessert originated from a small trattoria in Treviso just 30 years ago, with now a whole range of variations, the only constant ingredient these days is mascarpone cheese. My first experience of this most heavenly of Italian desserts, is a memory I will treasure forever and recall rather frequently (as I say, this dessert has changed my life – and my waistline)!

I had escaped the city for a few days rest to the magical Lake Como. I had called into a real Italian trattoria in the most elegant town of Cernobbio, on the western shore of the lake. Foolishly ordering and shortly after consuming an entire Quattro formaggio pizza, I asked for a peek at the dessert stand. Before I knew it, the most welcoming of waiters had placed a dinner plate of this most creamy of desserts. Initially expecting him to cut a small piece for me, he said with a smile “on the house”.

It was all for me, and every mouthful was a little bite of heaven. Since then, I have never looked back and no longer wait to hear those three little words . . . . . “on the house”, but dig straight in!