Eat your words: Berty Ashley hosts a food etymology walk in Bengaluru’s Church Street

Tiramisu means “pick me up” in Italian, but the origins are saucier than you think. Molecular biologist-turned-quizmaster Berty Ashley tells me it emerged from the brothels of Italy. “The women running the brothels realised the longer their clients stayed there, the more money they could make.

Once they were done with their session, they were served this coffee and liquor dessert. The dish acts like a stimulant and brings back the vigour, encouraging them to stay a little longer.” This Saturday Berty will be hosting Word Of Mouth, a food walk, taking guests through Church Street restaurants, and unpacking the backstory behind iconic dishes with anecdotes and history that you are unlikely to have come across in your text books. Berty is one of India’s premier quizmasters.

Hailing from Madurai, the science communicator is also familiar to readers of The Hindu for his Sunday quiz called Easy Like Sunday Morning, that has a fan following. “The events platform Urbanaut got in touch saying they wanted to do a walk with me. And we came up with the idea of doing a food walk.