The Panettone

                      
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.