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Bread of heaven |
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| 2007/11/29 |
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| There are few Italian households that do not have panettone on the table at Christmas time but it’s origins seem to be lost in the mists of time. |
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A dome-shaped cake, full of raisins and candied fruit, panettone is as part of a traditional Italian Christmas as Christmas pudding is to the Brits or stollen is to the Germans. Legend has it that panettone first appeared in Milan around the 15th century but beyond that, few can agree on its exact origins. There are many stories woven around this traditional cake, each of them ripe with romance and not a little intrigue.
One such fable begins in the court of the Italian Duke Ludovico Maria Sforza and centres around his hawk breeder, Ughetto, a studious and solitary man in love with the baker’s daughter, Adalgisa. As in all good love stories, their love was thwarted by her family and they were forbidden to meet. Ughetto saw his chance to be with Adalgisa when the baker’s boy fell ill – so in disguise, he began to work with Adalgisa in her father’s bakery at night.
Being an inventive man, he saw an opportunity to improve the baker’s bread, first by adding butter to the dough (he sold a couple of hawks to pay for it), then more sugar. It was such a success that Ughetto continued – now adding some candied fruit and eggs to the dough and then, at Christmas, some raisins. It was hugely popular with the neighbourhood customers and before long, Ughetto’s secret identity was revealed. Adalgisa’s father forgave them both (the bread, after all, was fantastic), so they got married and lived happily ever after.
Another, somewhat less romantic tale, suggest that the invention of panettone was not the work of Master Ughetto, but rather Sister Ughetta, a poor nun who made the cake for her fellow sisters. Living in a remote nunnery, Christmas promised to rather joyless for the nuns – until Sister Ughetta created a delicious cake, filled with raisins and candied peel, on which she had traced the sign of the cross. So, they say, was panettone born and the cross can still be seen today on traditional panettone manufactured according to ancient recipes.
The final legend harks back to Milan’s golden era, when the Visconti and Sforza families reigned. A spectacular party was held at the Castle Sforzesco, with music and dancing and much merry-making. After the meal, the guests waited eagerly for the dessert to arrive, for it was this part of the meal that truly reflected the greatness of the chef’s art. Alas, back in the kitchen, the dessert had burnt to a crisp! What to do? The chef was distraught, terrified by the prospect of the Duke’s legendary wrath. Just then, a young kitchen boy came to his aid. He had prepared a dessert of his own, he said, from leftovers he had found in the kitchen. Some eggs, a little sugar, raisins, candied peel…. The chef was welcome to it, if he liked. The cake, a golden dome, certainly smelt delicious and the chef really had no choice. So he set it on a golden platter, and sent it to the hall. Before long, loud applause was heard and everyone praised the novel dessert for its delicious taste. The Duke came back to the kitchen to congratulate the chef, who had to admit that it was not he who had made the cake, but Toni, the scullery boy. It was, in fact, “el pan del Toni” – Toni’s bread – and so panettone was born.
Whatever the truth, panettone has a special place in Italian’s hearts. Normally it is eaten during the cold months of winter, especially at Christmas time, but it is also enjoyed at celebrations, such as weddings and christenings. Traditionally, panettone is made of a soft, incompletely cooked dough, served in slices and accompanied by sweet hot beverages or sweet wine such as spumante. However, production techniques have been modified in modern times according to European regulations and few panettone now contain under-cooked dough or fermented raisins as in the olden days.
Fratelli Bonci’s panettone has been made by the family-run company since 1953. This is their signature item and is carefully prepared to an original recipe. The yeast is allowed to mature naturally for a full 36 hours before it is used, along with homemade candied fruit, to create the unique Bonci panettone. The family bakery also produces a range of other cakes and traditional Tuscan specialities. |
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| Super Tips |
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Try serving your Christmas panettone with:
Chocolate sauce:
break choclate into a bowl with 100ml water and a small glass of rum. Melt over boiling water.
Orange sauce:
Add the grated peel of one orange to some ready-made custard.
Fruit of the forest sauce:
Whisk sugar and pureed fruit together to get a dense sauce. |
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| Did you know? |
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| A traditional panettone takes a full 36 hours to make. |
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 | Delicatessen & Cheese |
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| Cheese Basics |
| As you can tell from the cheese assortment... |
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