Italy In SF

There are three traditional sweets that go with Christmas in Italy: Torrone, a nougat confection made with honey and nuts, Pandoro and Panettone. Among my generation, though, the real desserts of the holidays are the latter two.

Originally from Milan, Panettone is a leavened bread that takes several days to make. The dough is left to ride for hours on ends before being punched and let to rise again. Heavy in butter, it is studded with raisins and canditi, candied orange and lemon peels. Pandoro is originally from Verona, the town of Romeo and Juliet. Its name literally means “golden bread”, and that’s what it is essentially: a bread enriched with sugar, butter, and eggs that give it the traditional olden color to the finished dough.

Pandoro and Panettone are only available for a short time around the holidays. Obviously the best ones are the one baked artisanally, but industrial production has made them available on the shelves all over Italy. Nevertheless, only the current year production is sold, as neither holiday bread has shelf life beyond 6 months. You start seeing Pandoro and Panettone around mid November, but in my family we’d only eat it after December 8th, the unofficial start day of the Holiday Season. So, the month between the Immacolata (December 8th) and Epifany (January 6th) is theonly time you can indulge your passion for these coveted sweets. We serve it for dessert on Sundays during the Holidays, on Christmas’ day (of course!), and eat leftover with milk for breakfast.

So, a holiday dessert, available only for a restricted time every year, and universally considered the best thing ever! Sounds familiar? My friend Rusti said it best- Panettone and Pandoro are the Italian equivalent of pumpkin pie!

Happy Holidays everyone- and may 2009 bring all the happiness in the world to you and your dear ones. Buon anno!

Filed under: Culinary Culture, Traditional Foods