The first kitchen a churn out a panettone was that of Ludovico Maria Sforza better known as il Moro during the Middle Ages in the same period in which America was discovered.
The court of Louis the Moor, regent of the Duchy of Milan from 1480 to 1494, has always stood out for its great avant-garde and cultural fervor: illustrious personalities such as Leonardo da Vinci have passed through here and it is not surprising that in the midst of the cultural revolution of the time, gastronomy was also a great protagonist.
When Panettone was born, here are the most famous anecdotes
It was Christmas Eve in the XNUMXth century when, on the day of an important banquet, the Court's personal cook accidentally burned the freshly prepared cake.
To find a solution immediately, he asked for help from his boy who sacrificed a stick of yeast kept aside for the family Christmas lunch.
Working it and adding ingredients such as flour, eggs, candied fruit, sugar and raisins, Toni created a sweet with an incredible flavor and a soft consistency: it was a real success to the point that from that day Panettone became one of the official sweets of the family with the name of Pan by Toni.
Among the potential inventors of Panettone, however, we also find other famous historical figures such as Sister Ughetta and Ughetto degli Atellani.
Who invented Panettone: the stories of Sister Ughetta and Ughetto degli Atellani
To celebrate Christmas, Sister Ughetta decided to prepare a dessert following the inspiration of the moment and, before baking it, she drew a cross on the part of the crust as a sign of blessing: during cooking it assumed the dome shape typical of panettone.
Ughetto degli Atellani, who fell in love with a baker's daughter, pretended to be a pastry chef to spend as much time as possible with his beloved: it was during his experience in the shop that he invented a new cake made from flour, yeast, eggs, sugar and candied fruit, contributing to the success of the oven.
Thanks to this great invention of his, he was granted permission to marry the beautiful daughter of the baker.
We could go on indefinitely: the Middle Ages are teeming with breads similar to those prepared by Toni, Sister Ughetta and Ughetto degli Atellani!
The idea of Panettone according to the present day tradition was born during the early twenties of the twentieth century on the occasion of the modification of the original recipe with the addition of butter, to make it even softer, and with the introduction of paper straw.
Panettone against Pandoro: let's go hunting for differences!
Panettone and Pandoro have always been compared, sharing the palates of Italians every year during the Christmas holidays.
Pandoro was born in Verona and as for Panettone there are many anecdotes about its birth: what is certain is that it was officially born on October 14, 1884 and that the first pastry chef to file the patent with the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce was Domenico Melegatti.
CWhat makes these two Christmas sweets different?
La crafts it is the first thing, the simplest one and under everyone's eyes: while for the panettone we have a round framed by a dark brown paper mold with the famous cross carving, the pandoro seen from above resembles a star.
Another important difference lies in the ingredients: in the panettone, as we have seen, we find candied fruit and raisins while in the pandoro aroma of vanilla and a sprinkling of icing sugar.
The numbers of Panettone in Italy
That Panettone is the most loved dessert by Italians and not only the numbers prove it: initially only 10% of the production was destined for the foreign market while today exports are growing strongly.
However, Italy remains the country with the highest level of consumption: statistics and analyzes indicate about three kilos per capita.
The Panettone is placed inside the Christmas baskets to give to friends and relatives; Most consumers prefer handcrafted and top quality products for accuracy.
Finally, many go in search of Panettone prepared by famous pastry chefs able to guarantee a soft and fragrant product as in the case of Fiasconaro, flamigni, Scarped, Thomas Muzzi, Posillipo.
