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'Father of tiramisu' dies in Italy aged 93

AFP/The Local
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'Father of tiramisu' dies in Italy aged 93
Titamisu desert is on display during the first Tiramisu World Cup competition on November 4, 2017, in Badoere, near Treviso. (Photo by MARCO BERTORELLO / AFP)

Ado Campeol, dubbed "the father" of the world-famous tiramisu dessert, died over the weekend, the governor of the Veneto region has announced. He was 93.

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Campeol was the owner of Le Beccherie restaurant in the city of Treviso that began first offering the concoction of coffee-soaked biscuits and mascarpone in the 1970s.

The dessert, which first came about because of a mistake by Campeol's wife Alba and his chef at the time according to local media reports, quickly took off and is today considered a staple of Italian cuisine beloved by those with a sweet tooth the world over.

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"With Ado Campeol, gone today at age 93, Treviso loses another one of its gastronomical stars," Luco Zaia, the governor of the Veneto region, wrote on social media on Saturday.

"It is at his restaurant, thanks to the intuition and imagination of his wife, that was born the tiramisu, one of the most celebrated desserts in the world."

The word tiramisù, which means "lift me up", comes from the Treviso dialect tireme su.

Though Campeol is known as the "father of tiramisu", it was in fact his wife, Alba, who invented the recipe.

Their son Carlo, the current owner of the Le Beccherie restaurant, said it came about completely by chance when his mother was breastfeeding him. "She had turned to mascarpone mixed with sugar and biscuits soaked in coffee to keep her energy up, which is traditional in Treviso," he told The Guardian. "Then, with her chef, she turned those elements into a pudding."

The dessert first appeared on the restaurant's menu in 1972.

Classic tiramisu is made by layering espresso-soaked biscuits with mascarpone and topped off with powdered cocoa.

Today the dessert comes in a myriad of varieties, from fruit to peanut butter.

READ ALSO: How to make a classic Italian tiramisù

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