Christmas time, desire for Panettone. Nine out of 10 Italians prefer it traditional, only with raisins and candied fruit, but there are also those who do not disdain chocolate and almonds. Then there are those who want a starred one, and so they give free rein to the inspiration of the chefs and to less orthodox ingredients, such as rice, saffron and licorice, chosen by the three-star Michelin Massimiliano Alaimo in his restaurant Le Calandre in Rubano, the apple replaced candied by the patron of Pomiroeu in Seregno (1 star) Giancarlo Morelli, who also adds lime and bergamot, or Panacea seeds added by the chef of the Aqua Crua restaurant in Barbarano Vicentino (1 star) Giuliano Baldessari. However, the protagonist is always him, the Panettone, king of the Christmas festivities and symbol of the 'made in Italy' in demand all over the world. Sometimes even in very creative versions, such as that of Indian millionaire who last year had commissioned one worth 500 euros because covered with gold and with a gold and diamond tiara. It was prepared by Dario Hartvig of the Pasticceria del Borgo di Carmagnola (Turin), who this year decided to create a more 'popular' version at 150 euros, covered with a sheet of gold and placed on a base of crystals about 50 centimeters long. However, the dough respects the traditional ingredients. Another 'eccentric' novelty this Christmas is the cannabis panettone: it is made with raisins, Sicilian candied fruit, hemp seed oil and hemp flour and can be found at Justmary in Milan at a price of 40 euros.
In short, there is panettone for all tastes and for some years the demand from abroad has also been rising. According to Aidepi, the association of confectionary and pasta industries, they are produced in our country approximately every year 50 tons of panettone, which are equivalent to about 50 million units (0,82 per capita) for a total turnover of 331 million euros, in constant growth: (+4%). The artisan panettone instead, produced exclusively with sourdough and natural ingredients, more than 60 million in turnover and its demand abroad is growing at rates of around 5%. A trend that could rise further if the Italian artisan panettone were promoted, especially abroad, as a dessert to be eaten all year round. Something they already do, for example, in England, where the sales of panettone and pandoro seem to have far exceeded those of pudding, but with products that are often very far from our artisan quality.
Returning to Italy, these days the events that have panettone as the protagonist are multiplying. One of the best known, 'King Panettone', has already drawn up its ranking of the best in Italy in Milan: this year first place was awarded to the chief pastry chef of the Incroissanteria pastry shop in Carobbio degli Angeli (Bg), Italo Vezzoli. The two mentions, however, went to Vincenzo Mennella, head pastry chef of the homonymous pastry shop in Torre del Greco (Naples), and to Raffaele Vignola, head pastry chef of Caffè Vignola in Solofra (Av). On the weekend of 8 and 9 December, 'Artisti del Panettone' will take place, which will bring Italy's greatest pastry chefs to Milan. It starts from Lombardy, with Maestro Iginio Massari, Vincenzo Santoro of La Martesana and Maurizio Bonanomi, and then goes to Alta Badia together with Andrea Tortora of the St. Hubertus restaurant, reign of the three-starred chef Norbert Niederkofler. In Padua it is the turn of Luigi Biasetto, while in Turin we meet Fabrizio Galla and in Bologna and Prato, respectively Gino Fabbri and Paolo Sacchetti. The south will be represented by Alfonso Pepe from Campania, the great pastry chef from Sant'Elgidio di Monte Albino (SA), multi-award winning past editions of King Panettone, by Sal De Riso and Lucan Vincenzo Tiri. Also in Milan, from 13 to 16 December, the 'Festa del Panettone' takes place, with the traditional appointment with the largest artistic panettone in the world, signed this year by Davide Comaschi, world chocolate champion in 2013 and today director of the Chocolate Academy.
other contest, The Tenzone of Panettone which saw 58 of Italy's most important pastry chefs challenge each other at the Castellazzo di Parma club. graduate Andrea Tortora, of St. Hubertus, with the title of "Panettone of the year 2018", Valter Tagliazucchi, from Giamberlano di Pavullo nel Frignano, with his panettone with Ama oil and zibibbo won the title for the innovative Panettone category. The silver medal, for the traditional panettone, went to pastry star Mauro Scaglia from Brescia, who narrowly beat the master baker from Viareggio Stefano Gatti. On the podium of the innovative, the second place went to the pear and chocolate panettone of the Piedmontese star Fabrizio Galla, already winner in 2017, while the third place went to the Panbabà of the master Ampi Salvatore Gabbiano from Pompeii.
But how to distinguish an artisanal panettone 10 cum laude? First of all, always check the label. The "Typical Panettone of the Milanese Artisan Tradition" logo can only be used by companies authorized by the Committee of Master Pastry Chefs and the artisanal product cannot be sold beyond thirty days from the date of production. Furthermore, one must always be wary of very low prices because they are signs of defects and ingredients of little value. But what about the smell, the shape, the color? For the master of artisanal pastry chefs Iginio Massari, an artisanal panettone must have a delicate but intense aroma, a soft consistency and with the right humidity and an egg-yellow colour, with lots of well-distributed fruit inside. The rind must be light brown tending towards golden and the internal cavities elongated and homogeneous. Very large holes signal defects in the leavening, as well as a flat external shape and not a dome.
One of the best-known Italian desserts abroad, an icon of the Christmas holidays, Messer Panettone, was actually not conceived at birth by a famous baker. According to the legends he seems to have been born almost by mistake between the 400s. and the '500. The first speaks of a Olive falconer of the Atellani, who lived in the Contrada delle Grazie in Milan. In love with Algisa, beautiful daughter of a baker, he would have been hired by her father as a boy and, to increase sales, he would have made a cake of his own invention: with the best flour from the mill he mixed eggs, butter, honey and sultanas. Then he baked. They liked the dessert, everyone wanted to taste the new bread and some time later the two young lovers got married and lived happily ever after.
Instead, another legend sees him as the protagonist The cook at the service of Louis the Moor tasked with preparing a sumptuous Christmas dinner to which many nobles of the district had been invited, but the dessert, forgotten by mistake in the oven, almost charred. Given the desperation of the cook, Toni, a little scullery boy, proposed a solution: «With what is left in the pantry – a little flour, butter, eggs, some cedar peel and some raisins – I cooked this cake this morning. If you have nothing else, you can bring it to the table». The cook agreed and, trembling, stood behind a curtain to spy on the reaction of the guests. Everyone was enthusiastic and to the duke, who wanted to know the name of that delicacy, the cook revealed the secret: «L'è 'l pan del Toni». Since then it has been the "pane di Toni", i.e. the "panettone".
Pietro Verri, on the other hand, goes further back in time and tells of an ancient custom which in the XNUMXth century enlivened the Christian celebrations associated with the Milanese area: at Christmas the whole family gathered around the hearth waiting for the pater familias to break "a large loaf" and handed a piece to all those present as a sign of communion. In the fifteenth century, as ordered by the ancient statutes of the guilds, the bakers who kneaded the bread of the poor (millet bread, called pan de mej) in the shops of Milan were forbidden to produce the bread of the rich and noble (white bread, called micca ). With one exception: on Christmas day, when aristocrats and plebeians could consume the same bread, given by bakers to their customers. It was pan di scior or pan de ton, or luxury bread, made from pure wheat, stuffed with butter, honey and zibibbo.
