“On the Ninth Day of Christmas my true love gave to me nine ladies dancing…”
Okay, I admit it. This one had me stumped. I couldn’t think of anything that qualified as dancing food…the closest thing I could come to was the dancing chicken at Santa Claus Land when I was a kid – you inserted a quarter in the booth and a real live hen came out of her coop and did the Texas Two Step for a bit of corn.
So nix on the dancing… what about the ladies themselves? What immediately came to mind are ladyfingers, which made me think of that yummy delight – tiramisu.
Tiramisu, which literally means “pick me up,” is an Italian dessert made of ladyfingers dipped in coffee and layered with a whipped mixture of egg yolks and mascarpone cheese; flavored with liqueur and cocoa powder.
Ladyfingers, known as Savoiardi in Italy and biscuits à la cuillère or boudoirs in France, are a light and sweet sponge cake roughly shaped like a large finger. They are typically used in dessert recipes, such as trifles, charlottes…and tiramisu. They contain no chemical leavening agent, relying instead on air incorporated into the eggs for their spongy texture. Ladyfingers are said to have originated in the late 15th century at the court of the Duchy of Savoy, a former political state in an area which encompassed present-day northern Italy and parts of France.
The history of tiramisu itself is more vague…there seems to be some debate regarding its origin. It appears to be a fairly recent culinary invention, dating back less than fifty years. One story states that it was invented by the apprentice of an Italian confectioner whose maiden name was Tiramisu, hence the name of the dessert. Other sources state the dessert was invented by a chef who worked for a restaurant near Venice.
But regardless of who invented it and where, it continues to be a favorite dessert of mine, and I often order it when dining at Italian restaurants.
It’s so good that it makes me want to dance.
This sculpture shows the sign for "connect"...and that is what Deaf Pagan Crossroads is all about - making connections. Connections between Deafhood and Paganism, connections between the Deaf Community and the Hearing Community, connections between myself as the writer and you as the reader. I hope you will take the time to read my various posts, some of which are listed below. Welcome to the Crossroads, and I hope you make some connections here!
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