Tiramisu, or ‘pick-me-up’ – ¬¬so named because of its reputed aphrodisiac powers – was born in Italy although nobody is quite certain where. Tuscany or Veneto, though, are the likeliest of the many claimants to be the birthplace of the archetypal Italian dessert. Several legends attempt to explain tiramisu’s origins and the most credible comes from late seventeenth century Siena, where the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Cosimo III de Medici, had a residence.The town’s confectioners decided to create a sweet to honour the Grand Duke which had to be simple yet delicious and Tiramisu or, as it was originally known, duke’s soup, was born. The Grand Duke was so enamoured of the new dessert that he took its recipe with him to Florence but not before it had become a favourite with the courtiers thanks to its rumoured aphrodisiac nature. The sweet’s popularity spread beyond Tuscany to Treviso, Venice and beyond and with ardent couples enjoying duke’s soup before their romantic trysts it soon took on its more familiar and playfully seductive modern name, tiramisu.