Ado Campeol, who owned the Italian restaurant where tiramisu was invented, dies: NPR

A piece of tiramisu at the restaurant Le Beccherie on August 24, 2013 in Treviso, Italy.

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A piece of tiramisu at the restaurant Le Beccherie on August 24, 2013 in Treviso, Italy.

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Ado Campeol, the famous owner of the Italian restaurant where tiramisu is believed to have been invented, is dead. He was 93.

Luca Zaia, the president of Italy’s Veneto region, where Campeol’s former restaurant was located in the town of Treviso, announced the news in a Facebook post.

“I express my deepest sympathy to all the family members,” Zaia said in a post translated from Italian.

Campeol’s restaurant, Le Beccherie, has long been considered the birthplace of tiramisu, the sweet Italian dessert that has become a global favorite at the dinner table.

Roughly translated as “pick me up”, tiramisu typically consists of ladyfingers soaked in coffee separated by layers of a fluffy cream made by whipping egg yolks, sugar and mascarpone cheese together. The top is sprinkled with cocoa powder and some variations include the addition of spirits such as rum or Marsala wine.

Although Campeol has been called the “father of tiramisu”, it was actually his wife, Alba Campeol, and one of the restaurant’s chefs who apparently invented it.

According to the BBC, Alba Campeol and chef Roberto Linguanotto came up with the idea for dessert, after Linguanotto accidentally dropped the mascarpone in a bowl of eggs and sugar. He liked how it tasted and told Alba Campeol. The two then added coffee-soaked ladyfingers and made what became known as tiramisu, which first appeared on the restaurant’s menu in 1972.

Carlo Campeol, Alba’s son, shows a photo of Le Beccherie during World War II on August 24, 2013 in Treviso, Italy.

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Carlo Campeol, Alba’s son, shows a photo of Le Beccherie during World War II on August 24, 2013 in Treviso, Italy.

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The recipe was eventually certified of the Italian Academy of Cuisine, and Zaia led an effort to secure the court protected status of the EU so it could not be made with strawberries or cream.

Not everyone is so sweet to the origins of tiramisus. With Italian chef Carminantonio Iannaccone has claimed the popular dessert as its own creation. Others actually say tiramisu occurred in Treviso’s brothels as an aphrodisiac.

Beccherien closed in 2014, 75 years after its opening, citing a decline in tourism following the global financial crisis, although it appears to have reopened.