Discovering il Duomo, artisanal panettone and the Italian pan dilemma during the Christmas season
I spent Christmas in Milan one year.
My sister was living there at the time, and I was excited to visit her and to experience my first Christmas in Italy. So, I celebrated my quasi-Christmas birthday in Toronto and the next day I flew out to the bustling design capital for un Natale alla Milanese. A study in contrasts from our typical Christmas Eve (which included a southern Italian fish dinner with family at home in Canada while watching the televised Papal mass in Rome) this one involved going out for an amazing dinner in a restaurant on the fashionable Via Monte Napoleone amidst festive families, then attending the mass at the Duomo. There we were on the other end, six hours ahead in time, living the high holiday, Italian-style.
Via Monte Napoleone during Christmas
Photo by Rui Alves Milan Via Monte Napoleone
Travel takes us out of our routines, catapults us into new territory and never fails to teach us something—which is one of the reasons why I love it so much. The discoveries made during this particular stay began upon my arrival. My sister was at work when I arrived in Milan, so as a welcome package, she had left a basket of tangerines, a birthday gift and a beautifully packaged panettone on the coffee table.
Up until that point, I was never a big fan of panettone. Yet (when in Rome, as they say) I decided to dig right in. The differences were staggering. As I unwrapped the pan del tun, that first aromatic waft was strangely inviting, and the taste, well it was the polar opposite of what I had experienced up until that point. You know, that dry bordering on stale, wrought with fastidious candied fruit and tasteless raisins cake that seemed more like Christmas gone wrong? Instead, this was delightfully moist, buttery and sweet, but not annoyingly so.
Suffice to say, I stumbled upon the difference between supermarket-bought and artisanal panettone—meticulously and laboriously prepared by pastry experts in its rightful birthplace—and there was no going back after that, EVER again!
During this month of December, I will explore the pan dilemma that takes place amongst Italians during this festive time of year—that friendly rivalry between the two classic Christmas cakes: panettone and pandoro. I will delve in the duelling desserts’ history, talk to master bakers and go on an artisanal journey of their respective cities of origin, Milan and Verona.
Whichever “pan” you prefer, I hope you enjoy this in-depth look at these two Italian Christmas classics; the care with which they are made, the importance of maintaining tradition and the pride of place from which they originate.
Buon Natale e buon appetito!
BANNER IMAGE COURTESY OF VANYA MAVRODIEVA, TRAVEL DESIGNER AT DESIGN YOUR ITALY