There
are a few things that symbolize “Christmas” all around the world. In many
countries, people trim trees, celebrate with Christmas carols, and create
intricate Nativity scenes to herald the coming of the baby Jesus. But to Italians, Christmas would not be the same without the Panettone, the iconic dome-shaped
Christmas cake. Dating
back to Roman times, this soft, sweet loaf cake stuffed with raisins, nuts and
candied fruits owes much of its development to Catholic figures. From the
time of the Renaissance we have proof of a Panettone recipe popular in Vatican circles. Sixteenth-century cookbooks by Bartolomeo
Scappi, a chef who served Pope Pius V, show that a loaf cake filled with raisins
was part of the refined menu he put together for the Head of the Church. Panettone,
made up of the words “panetto” (loaf) and “one” (big), was also featured in a
16th-century painting by Pieter Brueghel the Elder. As with many iconic foods, legend and myths have developed about
the origin of Panettone as a Christmas cake. Legend has it that Panettone was invented on
a Christmas Eve of
the 15th century at the court of Ludovico il Moro in Milan. The chef had
prepared a Christmas pudding that got burned. But the dinner was saved by the
ingenuity of a servant, Toni, who stuffed a loaf of bread with raisins, sugar
and nuts, and it became called the “Pan de Toni” (bread of Toni). But it was in the 1920s that the famous cake got its
current dome-shaped look. We owe that to Milanese baker Angelo Motta, a member
of the the Equestrian Order of
the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, who mimicked the kulic, a traditional Russian cake usually
baked for Easter. Today, as many as 54
million Panettones are bought during
the holidays in Italy alone, and Pope Francis has become a fan of the
tradition. Since his papacy began in 2013 he has been receiving a special Panettone, created for the Pope by Sicilian chef Nicola
Fiasconaro.
Friday 8 January 2021
The Panettone
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