interviews: Nina Vaclavikova
The debate over the birthplace of tiramisù is as rich as the dessert itself, and this weekend it has returned to the spotlight as applications for the 2026 Tiramisù World Cup public jury opened on Saturday, Sept. 12.
The championship is seeking 130 amateur tasters from around the world to score traditional and creative tiramisù recipes during the opening rounds of the competition, which takes place Oct. 9–11 in Treviso. Applicants can qualify by completing a 15-question online quiz on the dessert’s history, the competition’s rules and the Treviso region.
The event also revives one of Italy’s most enduring culinary disputes: Does tiramisù come from Veneto or Friuli Venezia Giulia?
Veneto’s claim centers on Le Beccherie, a restaurant in Treviso where the modern recipe is widely believed to have been created in the late 1960s by pastry chef Roberto Linguanotto and Alba Campeol. Friuli Venezia Giulia, however, argues that an earlier dessert known as Tirime su was served at the Hotel Roma in Tolmezzo during the 1950s, making it the true birthplace of the iconic sweet.
On the streets of Trieste, residents were just as divided. Some proudly defended Friuli Venezia Giulia’s historical claim, while others said Treviso’s documented recipe gives Veneto the stronger case — proving that, even decades later, tiramisù remains one of Italy’s sweetest regional rivalries.
