Embracing the Art of Making in Treviso

“You’re in the town where tiramisu was invented,” said our tour guide, Gabriella, as she led our group down a dimly-lit cobblestone street through the quiet quarters of downtown Treviso, Italy.

Treviso’s historical downtown district, home to some 80,000 inhabitants, is where PAX is currently reporting on-location from, in the upscale and sophisticated Maison Matilda as part of an educational trip organized by Treviso Glocal with the collaboration of the Italian National Tourist Board of North America.

The tour, officially called Treviso: The Art Of Making, explores the major sectors and geographical areas that unite a local community of more than 81,000 entrepreneurs and creators behind world-famous Italian products, such as radicchio vegetables, Nonno Nanni cheese and bubbly Prosecco.

PAX will be sampling these products at local farms, factories and fooderies all week long, so stay tuned for more highlights and happy discoveries.

It had been a brisk evening of exploring Romanesque cathedrals, crossing storybook bridges over babbling Venice-like waterways, and ogling upwards at ivy-laden balconies that hung from medieval-era apartments, but it was a coffee-soaked dessert that stopped us in our tracks.

“Tiramisu? Are you serious?” I asked out loud, arching my right eyebrow so intensely that it wrinkled the entire right side of my forehead. The three others in my group — two travel writers from New Jersey and Boston and one other from Toronto — looked equally surprised, directing all curiosity towards Gabriella, who had brought us to the outside of a restaurant called Le Beccherie, which was set to close last year before new owners stepped in.

It’s here, said our guide, where the famous Italian treat whipped with coffee, eggs, sugar, cheese and cocoa dust was first invented in the 1970s by a confectioner named Roberto Linguanotto under the guidance of Ada Campeol, the mother of Carlo Campeol, the original owner of Le Beccherie.

“But even that’s still up for debate,” said Gabriella, exercising a tone of caution. “It’s said that prostitutes would serve tiramisu to clients in bordellos after World War II because it was a quick ‘pick me up.’ It was like Viagra.”

Who knew an innocent slice of Tiramisu had a such a debaucherous past? Our group’s interest was instantly piqued and, naturally, we all piled into Le Beccherie for a slice. As expected, the tiramisu we ordered generated a chorus of “mmms,” “ooohs,” and “oooos” at our table, and frankly I’ll never look at the dessert the same way again.

That’s Treviso for you — an unsuspecting northern Italian province with “who knew?” moments around every cobblestoned corner.

In the meantime, follow our group’s Treviso adventures on Twitter by searching the hashtag #TrevisoTheArtOfMaking.