It was born in Italy, from an idea of a certain Toni, a baker's boy at the time of Ludovico il Moro. El Pan del Toni has gone through the centuries and then became the Panettone, one of the symbols of Made in Italy confectionery in the world.
But the largest producer of panettone in the world is not in Italy, it is the Brazilian Bauducco, six factories in the United States for 200 tons of product a year and 140 points of sale in 40 countries. And there is also a Peruvian, D'Onofrio, who made his fortune in the land of the Incas, who produces panettone exported all over Latin America. And now the Japanese have also started producing panettone with the Donq in the land of the rising sun.
In short, serious clouds appear on the horizon for the future of the pride of the Italian confectionery industry. A thriving market that rests on 40.000 companies that employ 160.000 people with a turnover of nine billion euros a year.
In short, the Italian Panettone is a precious asset that must be defended from foreign aggression not only to protect our companies but also to defend the artisan traditions of the great Italian pastry.
Above all, its craftsmanship must be defended, and above all the most genuine soul that gives it life, which makes it unique and inimitable, the sourdough.
From these considerations, the initiative to give life to the Academy of Masters of Mother Yeast and Italian Panettone was born, an initiative open to all master pastry chefs, bakers and pizza makers of "proven professionalism". The idea comes from a group of Masters of Mother Yeast, among the greatest Italian pastry chefs, with the aim of "protecting the quality, history and tradition of panettone made in Italy in the world". The diligent and passionate promoter of the project is Claudio Gatti, patron of Pasticceria Tabiano, a small town in the Parma hills, which, despite having reached a national dimension, has always maintained a family-run artisan management, respecting traditions and quality at any cost.
If Panettone is one of his must-haves, alongside the focaccias with 36 hours of leavening which are inspired by panettone but aimed at non-seasonal consumption, Gatti has always paid great cultural attention to the rediscovery of ancient values such as I Dolci della Via Francigena, made on ancient recipe books, studying the habits of pilgrims and the foods they found along the way.
In the committee of promoters alongside Gatti, President of the nascent Mother Yeast Academy, there are Stefano Laghi, world champion of pastry and cuisine in Basel in 1993 and 1994, and in Luxembourg in 1994 (vice president), Paolo Sacchettin of the Nuovo mondo pastry shop in Prato, a name that photographs his innovative principles that led him to success, Maurizio Bonanomi, of the Pasticceria Merlo di Pioltello first classified among the Masters of panettone 2019, Carmen Vecchione, chef and patron of the Dolciarte pastry shop in Avellino, avant-garde pastry shop, Salvatore De Riso , name known to the television audience Vincenzo Tiri winner of numerous competitions in Italy and abroad, teacher at the pastry school of Tesseri.
It is no coincidence that the project will be presented on 17 September at the Gastronomy Hub in Parma, an "open laboratory dedicated to innovation and experimentation in the context of the culture of agri-food excellence". In the chosen city of made in Italy food, a UNESCO Creative City for gastronomy, where the academy will have a permanent location, right in the Unesco building.
On this occasion, the Academy will present the strict disciplinary of sourdough and the rules for accessing it, both for pastry chefs and for bakers and pizza makers. Information on upcoming activities will also be provided.
The birth of the Academy was preceded by a long preparatory work which led the organizers to numerous meetings in the Chamber of Deputies to arrive at regulations for the protection of Panettone from imitations and counterfeits.
The Academy's commitment will be to involve all the players in the supply chain: not only bakery and pastry companies and leavening masters, but also those who produce the raw materials that make a good Italian panettone unique, to train new generations of pastry chefs and bakers that they cultivate the culture of sourdough (“which represents the origin of our gastronomic civilization – adds Gatti – which has never changed over time. Because everyone has their own working method, but sourdough is sourdough full stop. We have received it as a gift and we must pass it on to those who will come after us". The first and most urgent objective is PDO recognition.
Only in this way, as happened with the Neapolitan pizza, will the original genuineness of the Italian product and of the Panettone in particular be guaranteed.
Then the Panettoni can also be made in China, in the USA, in Brazil or in Africa, but the Italian Panettone can always and only be the one made with Italian natural yeast.
