The bittersweet charms of tiramisu

By Josie Delap

“Tiramisu,” murmurs Rob Reiner’s character knowingly to Tom Hanks in “Sleepless in Seattle”. “What is tiramisu?” asks Hanks, a widower venturing back into the world of dating. “Some woman is gonna want me to do it to her and I’m not gonna know what it is!” “You’ll love it,” Reiner assures him.

When the film was released in 1993 tiramisu was an obscure confection unheard of even in an America rich with Italians. The offices of Tristar, which distributed the movie, apparently received as many as 30 calls a day from viewers as anxious as Hanks to be enlightened. Some were disappointed to discover it was merely a dessert, others relieved.