Ado Campeol Passes Away, Tiramisu Fans Grieve

Illustrated tiramisu. (Unsplash / Chinh Le Duc)

JAKARTA - Restaurant owner Ado Campeol, nicknamed "Father of Tiramisu" by Italian media, has died at the age of 93, bringing grief to those who knew him and tiramisu lovers alike.

Campeol is the owner of Le Beccherie, a restaurant in Treviso in northern Italy, where the famous dessert was invented by his wife and a chef.

The Campeol family took over Le Beccherie, in Piazza Ancillotto, in 1939 when he was a child. Then he ran the restaurant and then sold it in 2014. He is survived by a wife, children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Tiramisu, which featured biscuits and coffee-soaked mascarpone, was added to their menu in 1972 but was never patented by the family.

Since then, tiramisu has become a staple of Italian cuisine, adapted by chefs around the world. However, there are long-standing disputes over the origins of tiramisu, including claims that it was served as an aphrodisiac in a brothel in the northern Italian city of Trevisio. But the widely accepted recipe was developed at the Campeol restaurant in the city.

Tiramisu illustration. (Pixabay/petrovhey)

Campeol's departure leaves sorrow for those who knew him, as well as for tiramisu lovers, including Veneto Region Governor Luca Zaia.

"With Aldo Campeol passing away today at the age of 93, Treviso is missing another star in his food and wine history who shines there too," he tweeted Sunday 31 October, according to Sky News.

"Aldo, his very long activities as a restaurateur, and his Beccherie, have crossed decades of the finest Treviso traditions."

Citing the BBC, Le Beccherie was opened by the Campeol family in 1939, and Campeol took over the business at the end of World War II.

According to one of the dessert's inventors, Chef Roberto Linguanotto, the dish was the result of an 'accident' while making vanilla ice cream.

Mr. Linguanotto dropped some mascarpone cheese into a bowl of eggs and sugar, and when he saw the pleasant taste of the mixture, he told Campeol's wife, Alba.

Tiramisu illustration. (Pixabay/pastel100)

The pair then perfected the dessert by adding a ladyfinger sponge soaked in coffee, and sprinkling it with cocoa, calling it "Tiramisù", which translates into English as 'pick me up'.

Tiramisu is a richly layered dessert made with ladyfinger biscuits, strong coffee, mascarpone, eggs, sugar, Marsala wine, rum and cocoa powder.

The dish appeared in print in the 1981 edition of Veneto, a local publication dedicated to food and wine, and is now one of Italy's most famous desserts.

Tiramisu variants feature alcohol like rum or marsala, but the original recipe, certified by the Italian Academy of Cuisine in 2010, is alcohol-free because it's meant to be kid-friendly.

"Sad to see 'tiramisu dad' Ado Campeol has passed away at the age of 93," wrote journalist Josh Barrie on Twitter.

️ Con Aldo Campeol, scomparso oggi all'età di 93 anni, Treviso perde un'altra stella della sua storia enogastronomica, che brillerà anche lassù. Aldo, la sua lunghissima attività di ristoratore, e le sue Beccherie, hanno attraversato decenni della trevigianità migliore. pic.twitter.com/fSNoTIAfQC

— Luca Zaia (@zaiapresite) October 30, 2021