tortoni

tortoni

English

WOTD – 1 July 2018

Etymology

A bombe (ice-cream frozen in a mould) made in a tortoni style[n 1]

A 19th-century illustration of patrons of the Café Tortoni in Paris, France.[n 2] Tortoni, a type of ice-cream, is believed to be named after the proprietor of the café, Giuseppe Tortoni.

Borrowed from the Italian surname Tortoni; the dessert is usually regarded as named after Giuseppe Tortoni, a native of Naples, Italy, who was the proprietor of the famous Café Tortoni in Paris, France, in the early 19th century.[1]

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /tɔːˈtəʊni/

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• (General American) IPA^(key): /tɔɹˈtoʊni/
• Rhymes: -əʊni
• Hyphenation: tor‧to‧ni

Noun

tortoni (plural tortonis)

1. Any of several sorts of ice-cream flavoured with rum or sherry, often containing chopped cherries and topped with almonds, crumbled macaroons, etc. [from early 20th c.]
   • 1906 October 20, William Inglis, “The Collapse of the Cuban House of Cards”, in Harper’s Weekly: A Journal of Civilization, volume 1, number 2600, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, OCLC 883997577:

     Nevertheless, the municipal band still played three evenings a week to great crowds on the Punta and in Central Park, the theatres were full of gayety, and the most zealous revellers continued to eat tortonis and sip ices every evening in the pretty cafés that are half outdoors and almost on the sidewalk.

   • 1915, “Soda Fountain Formulas”, in The Dispenser’s Formulary or Soda Water Guide: […], 3rd revised and enlarged edition, New York, N.Y.: D. O. Haynes & Co., […], OCLC 23889135, page 140:

     Soul Kiss / On a small fancy platter place a quarter of a brick of nesselrode or tortoni ice cream; on top of this put some stiff whipped cream in which lay some slices of banana; put a cherry at either end and also in the center, and sprinkle with nuts, if desired.

   • 1936 August–September, Pearl Norton Swet, “The Medici Boots”, in Farnsworth Wright, editor, Weird Tales: A Magazine of the Bizarre and Unusual, volume 28, number 2, Indianapolis, Ind.: Popular Fiction Pub. Co., OCLC 55045234, page 201, column 1:

     With my own fair hands I've made individual almond tortonis for dessert. Cook thinks I'm a wonder! Each masterpiece in a fluted silver dish, silver candies sprinkled on the pink whipped cream! O-oh!

   • 2010, Todd Gitlin, Undying: A Novel, Berkeley, Calif.: Counterpoint, →ISBN, page 61:

     A big smile from the courtly waiter named Frank at Dominick's, an Italian restaurant in the Bronx. Huge hamburger steaks. Little tortoni in paper cups, vanilla ice cream topped with macaroon crumbs.

Synonyms

• biscuit tortoni

Translations

any of several sorts of ice-cream flavoured with rum or sherry

Persian: بیسکویت تورتونی‎

Notes

1. From Janet M[cKenzie] Hill (June–July 1908), “Seasonable Recipes [Bombe, Biscuit Tortoni Style]”, in The Boston Cooking-school Magazine of Culinary Science and Domestic Economics, volume XIII, issue 1, Boston, Mass.: Boston Cooking School Magazine Co., 372 Boylston St., OCLC 604710566, page 479.
2. By Adolphe Willette, from Rodolphe Darzens (1889) Nuits à Paris: Notes sur une ville [Nights in Paris: Notes on a City], Paris: E. Dentu, éditeur, librarie de la Société des gens de lettres [bookshop of the Society of Men of Letters], 3, Place de Valois (Palais-Royal), OCLC 222831561, page 181.

References

1. Amanda Hesser (12 February 2009), “Recipe Redux: 1898: Tortoni”, in The New York Times (The Sunday Magazine)‎, page MM57.

Further reading

• biscuit Tortoni on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• tortion