Dessert of Distinction : Silky and Luscious, the Classic <i> Tiramisu</i> Is a Dish That Defies Precise Definition

THE WAITRESS AT THE hip new restaurant was not in the mood to put up with any nonsense. “This isn’t the same tiramisu that the chef made last week,” she said firmly, “but it is tiramisu. “

Tiramisu is a rich, coffee-and-cream-cheese-flavored Italian dessert. What lay before us was a bowl lined with a nondescript cake that was filled with vanilla-flavored pudding. There was no espresso flavoring, no ladyfingers, no mascarpone cheese, no cocoa powder or even chocolate shavings, yet the waitress remained adamant: “This IS tiramisu . It says so on the menu.”

Tiramisu is this year’s creme brulee-- a classic dish that, in a recent burst of sudden popularity, has mutated into a thousand versions that have little to do with the original. What we were served at the restaurant would be more accurately labeled a semifreddo , a broad category of Italian puddinglike desserts that includes tiramisu. Tiramisu is a semifreddo , but--just as every hamburger is a sandwich, but every sandwich is not a hamburger--every semifreddo is not tiramisu.

In many Los Angeles restaurants, this distinction gets lost. By offering a dessert called tiramisu on the menu (even if it is incorrectly made with cream cheese, chocolate pudding or even tropical fruit), a restaurant not only proclaims an attempt at perching on the cutting edge, but it also guarantees itself at least one sweet that will sell. It is hard to argue culinary fine points against that kind of reasoning.

But just as creme brulee survived the flotilla of unlikely dishes that claimed its name, so can a treat as hardy and malleable as semifreddo. Literally translated as “half-cold,” semifreddo is a chilled uncooked custard with a texture that resembles a rich ice cream that has softened in the bowl for about 10 or 15 minutes.

Usually a semifreddo’s soft, spoonable quality is created by lightening a sweetened cream or cheese (traditionally, mascarpone or ricotta) with eggs. Flavorings--fruit, berries, chocolate--are folded in, and the combination is left to set in the refrigerator or freezer for a couple of hours or overnight. Textural interest can be added by layering the custard with nuts, cake or cookies--or in the case of tiramisu , savoiardi (ladyfingers) that have been brushed with espresso or brandy.

The origin of tiramisu is hard to pinpoint. In Italian cooking, there are as many experts as there are mothers who cooked. According to Anna Del Conte, author of the estimable “Gastronomy of Italy,” tiramisu was invented about 20 years ago in a restaurant by the name of El Toula in Treviso.

However, the equally estimable cooking teacher Anna Teresa Callen insists that tiramisu is a traditional afternoon pick-me-up. And Judy Gethers, in her “Italian Country Cooking,” discounts claims that tiramisu is a Venetian dessert and asserts that its roots are in Milan.

The following recipe is Gethers’ version, authentic in its use of ladyfingers and mascarpone and opting for a flavoring of alcohol rather than espresso and a topping of chocolate or cocoa rather than coffee.

TIRAMISU 16 ladyfingers 1 cup rum or liqueur such as amaretto or Frangelico 5 large eggs, separated 1 2/3 cups powdered sugar 1/2 pound mascarpone cheese, softened 2 to 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa, sifted, or coarsely grated bittersweet chocolate

Arrange ladyfingers on bottom of a shallow 8-cup rectangular or oval serving dish. Pour rum over ladyfingers.

In a large bowl, using a wire whisk or rotary beater, combine egg yolks and powdered sugar and beat until mixture turns pale yellow and ribbons form when beater is lifted. Carefully stir in mascarpone until completely incorporated.

With a clean whisk or rotary beater, whip egg whites until stiff. Stir one-quarter of whites into mascarpone mixture to lighten. Gently but quickly fold in remaining whites.

Pour mixture over ladyfingers and smooth with a rubber spatula. Sprinkle with cocoa and refrigerate, covered, 1 to 2 hours.

Serve directly from serving dish.

Serves six to eight.

Turnabout is fair play. Here is a semifreddo that is coffee-flavored but is not tiramisu . Carlo Middione grew up around his family’s traditional-Italian restaurant in Glendale; now he runs San Francisco’s heralded Vivande. This is from his book “The Cooking of Southern Italy.”

ESPRESSO SEMIFREDDO 4 large egg yolks 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1/4 cup very strong espresso, cold 3 large egg whites, stiffly beaten 1 cup heavy whipping cream 6 espresso coffee beans Put egg yolks and sugar in bowl of electric mixer. Using whisk, beat on low speed until yolks and sugar are well mixed and begin to turn pale yellow. Turn speed to high and beat mixture until it has tripled in volume and ribbons form when beater is lifted. Add espresso.

Beat cream with another mixer, or by hand, until it is quite stiff and looks as though it is grainy and about to become butter. Pour about 20% of yolk mixture into whipped cream and mix it well to loosen mass of cream. Pour egg yolk mixture onto surface of lightened whipped cream and fold in rest of yolk mixture.

(Folding is accomplished by plunging a rubber spatula into center of mixture, clear to bottom, while you are firmly holding bowl with other hand. Angle spatula to right and slice across bottom of bowl coming left and continue up left side of bowl, bringing some of mixture from bottom up and over so that it lands on top. Quickly rotate bowl a quarter turn in any direction, plunge spatula into mixture again and repeat fold. Keep doing this as rapidly as you can, making sure to bring mixture from bottom to top by folding action. Theoretically, you should finish entire mixture in 12 folding operations.)

Set mixture aside in refrigerator and beat egg whites until they are quite stiff and shiny. (They must be quite stiff or they will liquefy yolk-and-cream mixture and make it collapse.) Add pinch of salt to mixing bowl, if it is not made of clean, unlined copper. When whites are stiffly beaten, put them on top of yolk-and-cream mixture and fold them together.

Immediately scoop mixture into glasses, cups or paper molds. Refrigerate if you want a very soft, creamy and unctuous dessert. For a semisoft ice cream, freeze. Frozen and well-covered, it can be stored for a month or two. You can make it one one large bowl if you like.

Before serving, be sure the dessert softens for a few minutes out of freezer. It should hold its shape but be very soft, silky and luscious.

Makes about six 5-ounce cups.

This is the popular and completely authentic tiramisu served at Chianti and Chianti Cucina on Melrose Avenue. Made with mascarpone, espresso, grappa, ladyfingers and cocoa powder, it is a tiramisu that will survive the vagaries of fashion.

CHIANTI TIRAMISU 6 egg yolks 1 1/4 cups sugar 1 1/4 cups mascarpone cheese 1 3/4 cups whipping cream, whipped to form soft peaks 1 3/4 cup cold espresso coffee 2 tablespoons brandy 2 tablespoons grappa (see note) 48 ladyfingers (two 7-ounce packages) Powdered unsweetened chocolate, for topping

In bowl of electric mixer, cream yolks and sugar until smooth. Add mascarpone and mix on low speed 2 minutes. Fold in whipped cream; reserve.

In medium bowl, combine coffee, brandy and grappa. Dip 15 ladyfingers, one by one, into the espresso mixture and arrange in a single layer on a 10x15-inch platter (or 10x15-inch baking sheet covered with foil), forming a rectangle about 7x13 inches.

Cover with half the mascarpone-and-cream mixture. Repeat layers with 15 more ladyfingers dipped in espresso mixture and remaining mascarpone-and-cream mixture. Sift chocolate evenly over top. Halve remaining ladyfingers; arrange vertically around edge of cake, cut-sides down. Refrigerate at least 4 hours. Cut into squares to serve.

Note: If grappa is unavailable, substitute with an additional 2 tablespoons brandy. Serves eight to 10.

Food stylist: Norman Stewart