Category Archives: Feste

La Festa della Liberazione

25 Saturday Apr 2020

Posted by in Blogging, Feste

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Today is la Festa della Liberazione d’Italia, the anniversary of the liberation of Italia from Fascist occupation in 1945, and a day to honour those who served in the Italian Resistance. That makes today the 75th anniversary of liberazione.  April 25th has been an Italian national holiday since 1946- Viva la libertà!

There are usually rallies organized all over the country by ANPI (Associazione Nazionale Partigiana d’Italia).  This year the celebration is bittersweet, there not being much liberazione at the moment with everyone in isolation.

There will be balcony celebrating all over the country, including singing Bella Ciao.  This was originally a protest song of the late 19th Century, for women working in the rice fields in Northern Italia, then adapted as an antifascist song of the resistance.  Please listen to this Facebook link to a video of a beautiful version sung by a few of my talented young paesani in Orsara di Puglia! Frecce Tricolori Festa della Liberazione 25 Aprile

Le Frecce Tricolori of the Italian air force also flew the colours of the Italian flag over Roma this morning.

Today is also Un po di pepe‘s 6th bloghiversario / blog anniversary.  I usually write about the past year and what I would like to write for the next one.  This year, I would just like to share a 1955ish quote by Piero Calamandrei, an author and protagonist of the Resistenza:

La liberta è come l’aria.  Ci si accorge di quanto vale quando inizia a mancare. /Freedom is like air.  We only realize how much it is worth when it is lacking.

Continue to stay safe everyone, and hang in there.  Forza! Ce la faremo!  Un abbraccio, Cristina

Il Zampognaro

22 Sunday Dec 2019

Posted by in Feste, Italian life, Parole piacevoli

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Zampognaro-traditional Abruzzese bagpipe playing shepherd Il Zampognaro (zahm•poh•NYAH•roh) is a part of most Italian Presepi or Nativity scenes.  Zampognari are traditional Abruzzese shepherds, playing bagpipes known as zampogne (zahm•POH•nyeh). I have wanted one for a long time, and wrote about it in Il Presepio and Il Presepio di Mamma. Last year in Napoli’s  Via San Gregorio Armeno I was so overwhelmed that I forgot to look for one!

Via San Gregorio Armeni Napoli, Antonio Pepe, www.unpodipepe.ca

‘Lavorazioni di Pastori e Scenografie Presepiati Antonio Pepe’, Via San Gregorio Armeno, Napoli (no relation!)

This year, I spent a few days in Lecce before going to Napoli.  Lecce is known for cartapesta-papier maché and I saw Nativity figures, so I searched and found my  hand made glazed terra cotta zampognaro.  He is smaller and does not look like the other figures, but he has so much character with his puffy cheeks, I can almost hear him playing Tu Scende dalle Stelle….

Are you wondering why Abruzzese bagpiping shepherds are in Italian presepi?  It has to do with la transumanza, the migration of animals along tratturi-established paths in use since pre Roman times that were protected by royal decree.  Pastori-shepherds moved their animals from the mountains of Abruzzo and Molise where they grazed in the summer, to la pianura, the lowlands of Puglia.  They did this to escape the snow, and in spring the sheep and goats were herded back to Abruzzo. The tratturi were used into the 1960’s, then trucks replaced the crossing by foot.view-from-hotel-certosa

During le feste Natalizie, December 8th to January 5th, zampognari in traditional dress would go to the villages to play for extra money or food, thus the zampognaro became symbolic of Christmas in Italia and earned a place in the Presepio.

La Transumanza: Cammino Reale/Royal Shepherd’s Track has been on the  tentative list of UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites since 2006.  On December 11, 2019, it received UNESCO designation as ‘intangible cultural heritage of humanity’! Auguri zampognari!  Do any of you have un zampognaro?Presepio 2019

Cari lettori di Un po’ di pepe, Vi augura un Buonissimo Natale e un meraviglioso 2020 piena di gioia e salute!

Dear readers of Un po’ di pepe, I wish you a very Merry Christmas and a marvelous 2020 filled with health and joy!

Ciao, Cristina

Ferragosto

15 Thursday Aug 2019

Posted by in Feste, Italia, Italian life

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Ferragosto refers to August 15th and up to a week before and after. August 15th is a national holiday, celebrating l’Assunzione di Maria-the Assumption of the Virgin Mary to Heaven at the end of her life on earth. If you know anyone named Maria Assunta, she was probably born on August 15th!

Most Italiani take their holidays at this time, heading to the mountains or seaside for cooler weather. At the very least, most are away for ‘il ponte di Ferragosto’ the long weekend around August 15th.

Ferragosto goes way back….the name comes from the Latin Feriae Augusti or holidays of the Emperor Octavius Augustus, started in 31 BC. There were already several other Roman festivals the same month, such as Consualia, celebrating the harvest. They were combined into a longer rest and feasting period after months of heavy labour in the fields. The celebration originally included horse races. Il Palio dell’Assunta in Siena every August 16th still keeps this tradition going. Taking a trip mid-August became popular in the 1920’s. The fascist government set up discounted trains for Ferragosto Aug 13-15 to give the less well off an opportunity to see other Italian cities. In the 1960’s it became common for factories and large businesses in the bigger cities such as Torino and Milano to shut down for 2 weeks in August, or sometimes even the entire month.

This gave workers from the south or small villages the opportunity to return home and spend time with family, and also to get away from the summer heat in the city. This tradition continues, although not as much as in previous years. It is common to see Chiuso per ferie signs for 2 weeks in August, but many small businesses now close in June or September instead.

     

I am often asked why small, independent businesses shut down for 2 weeks instead of having more staff and staying open. The main reason is that in Italia it is very expensive to have dipendenti-employees.  It often makes more financial sense for a local, family run place to simply close for a few weeks. Spending time with family is also valued more than in some cultures, so shutting down to be with family is an accepted, even encouraged practice.

2 weeks ago I was in Napoli and tried to go to the popular Pizzeria Gino Sorbillo. The lineup was ridiculously long, so I went somewhere else and had a delicious pizza Margherita. Last year on August 17th, the sign pictured above was on the door of the same place. They were closed for 3 weeks and their other location near the harbour was open.

Should you avoid going to Italia in August? Absolutely not! If that is when you are able to go-then do it! Just do not attempt to travel on August 15th, as public transportation will be greatly reduced and nearly everything will be closed. Museums and cultural sites will be open though. Roma, for example, will be empty of Romans for the week, so it will be less crowded with fewer cars on the road. It is a great time to visit air-conditioned museums and cool stone churches. There will be more than enough restaurants open that nobody will starve.

I usually go to Italia in August as this is the best time of year to go to my small mountain village. There are feste and concerts all month, my friends and relatives have time off and those who have moved away for work come back to visit.

What are you doing for Ferragosto?

Buon Ferragosto, Cristina

This post is written as part of the monthly blogging linkup Dolce Vita Bloggers  hosted by Kelly , Jasmine and Kristy.

Zeppole di San Giuseppe

19 Tuesday Mar 2019

Posted by in Feste, Mangiamo!, Recipes

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Zeppole di San Giuseppe are a traditional pastry served in southern and central Italy on March 19th for la festa di San Giuseppe.  In Italia, March 19th is also La Festa del Papà -Father’s Day.  In North America, Father’s Day is the 3rd Sunday in June, but in Italia it is always on March 19th because San Giuseppe (St Joseph) was, of course, the papà of Jesus! He is also the patron saint of carpenters, the family, orphans and the homeless. March 19th is also a few days away from spring and the start of the agricultural year, in the fields and vineyards.

Zeppole di San Giuseppe are made with the same choux pastry as bignè di San Giuseppe, but the dough is piped out into ‘nests’ rather than spooned onto the baking sheet.  They can be baked or fried.  The hole in the center of the zeppola is filled with crema pasticcera, a creamy custard.  Finally, the signature detail of zeppole di San Giuseppe….they are topped with un amarena in sciroppo.  Amarene are dark, wild sour cherries and they are preserved in syrup.  Amarene in sciroppo are likely available at your local Italian market.  Note-the word zeppole, singular zeppola, is used in some regions, including Calabria, for a type of doughnut or fried dough.

Zeppole di San Giuseppe are not the easiest thing to make, especially if you are not a baker or used to a piping bag.  My first ones did not look beautiful, but they still tasted great. If you need a visual tutorial, there are quite a few good videos online, especially from Benedetta, and Zia Franca.

Zeppole di San Giuseppe

  • 150g (175ml, ¾ cup) water
  • 125g (½ cup) butter
  • pinch of salt
  • 150g (285 ml, 1 cup + 2 tablespoons) 00 flour
  • 4 medium eggs

Heat the water on low heat and add butter and sugar.  Stir until melted and bring to a boil.  Add the flour ALL AT ONCE and stir quickly until the mixture leaves the sides of the pan and forms a ball.  Remove from heat and let cool slightly, then add the eggs, 1 at a time.  A mixer at low speed can be used for this part, but I just used my wooden spoon-less stuff to wash!Zeppole di San Giuseppe

Put the dough in a pastry bag with a very large stella, star tip.  The tip needs to be at least 1 cm, preferably larger, or the zeppole will come out too small.  I was not able to find a bigger tip, so mine were actually zeppoline!  Pipe out circular nests with 2 rows of pastry onto carta forno –parchment paper.  Bake at 200ºC (400ºF) for 15 minutes, then lower the temperature to 180ºC (350ºF) for 10 minutes.  Turn off oven and leave the door partially open to let them cool.

Baked zeppole have a delicate taste.  Frying gives them a more robust taste.  To fry them, cut the parchement paper into squares.  Drop the whole square upside down into hot oil.  Remove the paper and turn them.  Enrica from Chiarapassion says her Mamma’s secret is to  bake them, then fries them so they do not absorb as much oil!  Sounds like twice as much work to me though.Zeppole di San Giuseppe fritte

Dust with icing sugar, top with crema pasticcera and amarena with syrup.  I served mine with my homemade liquore di foglie di amarena.

Crema Pasticcera

  • 2 whole eggs + 2 yolks
  • 80g (6 tbsp, 1/3 cup +1 tbsp) sugar
  • 70g (165 ml, ½ cup) flour
  • ½ L (500 ml, 2 cups) whole milk
  • lemon peel
  • vanilla bean(optional)

Heat the milk in a pot with the lemon peel.  I use the entire peel.  Start at the top and cut it like a corkscrew so you end up with one long peel.  In a bowl, beat eggs and yolks, add sugar and whisk. When milk is hot, remove lemon peel and add vanilla bean, if desired. Add other ingredients, whisk and heat until thick.  When cool, refrigerate with plastic wrap touching the crema.  When ready to use, fill a pasty bag and pipe onto zeppole with a large star tip.

Auguri a tutti i Papà del mondo e Buon Onomastico a tutti i Giuseppe, Giuseppina, Giuseppa, Peppe, Joe, Pina, Josie e Giusy!  Ciao, Cristina

PS In my post La Festa del Papà, you can see my absolutely favourite photo of me and papà.  Have a look.  Cute-issimo, no?

San Valentino ❤️

14 Thursday Feb 2019

Posted by in Feste

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La festa degli innamorati, la festa di San Valentino….people either love Valentine’s Day or think it is just una festa consumista – a consumeristic ‘Hallmark Holiday’.  The festa has been around for a long time, but what do we know about San Valentino?

February 14th was declared St Valentine’s feast day in 496 AD by Pope Galerius, but the history and reason why is obscure.  The saint’s relics are apparently in churches all over Europe, including Terni, Vienna, Malta, Poland, Dublin, Madrid, Prague, Santa Maria in Cosmedin and Santa Prassede in Roma.  How is this possible?  I know some people are big boned, but how many bones did he have?

Well…. there are at least 11 Saints named Valentino, including one woman, Valentina of Palestine, and a Pope who lasted only 40 days.  That would explain all the bones!  There were so many of them that their stories got mixed together.  At least 2 of these ‘Valentini’ died on Feb 14th around the year 270 AD.  One was a priest in Roma and one was the Bishop of Terni in Umbria.  There are enough similarities between these 2 that they could have been the same person, moving from Terni to Roma.  They both died as a result of their faith near the Ponte Milvio and Via Flaminia, which coincidentally is the road that leads to Umbria!

San Valentino the priest of Roma was known for performing marriages. Emperor Claudius II needed soldiers to fight his many military pursuits. He believed that soldiers would perform better on the battlefield if they did not have spouses, so he banned marriage.  Another version is that Christians, who were persecuted at the time, were forbidden to marry.  Valentino secretly married soldiers and/or Christians.  This landed him in prison. He is also said to have cut hearts out of parchment to give to the couples he married to remind them of their vows.

The Bishop of Terni was arrested for evangelizing. The Roman judge Asterius decided to test him by asking that he restore his blind daughter’s vision.  Her sight was restored and Asterius released the Bishop from prison.  Valentino went right back to performing illegal marriages, and was sentenced to death. Before his execution, he left a note for Asterius’ daughter signed ‘from your Valentine’.

The bishop of Terni was also known for providing a dowry for a poor girl so that she could marry the man she loved. With this act, he came to be the protector of innamorati.

San Valentino became associated with being a champion for amore, young lovers, engaged couples and marriage and we can thank him for Valentine’s cards and flowers.  He is also the patron saint of epilepsy, beekeeping, the plague and travelling!  What an interesting combination! We do not know if these stories are fatto o finzione-fact or fiction, but like it or not, Valentine’s Day has been celebrated and associated with devotion and love since the 14th Century.Auguri per la festa di San Valentino.  Baci e abbracci, Cristina

This post is written as part of the dolcevitabloggers linkup, hosted by Jasmine, Kelly and Kristie the 3rd Sunday of the month.  Click here to check out what the rest of the Dolce Vita bloggers have written on this month’s topic ‘Romance in Italy’.

Image credit:  Il Bacio, 1859 Francesco Hayez from Wikimedia Commons.

 

Buon Natale~Il Presepio di Mamma

24 Monday Dec 2018

Posted by in Amici e Famiglia, Feste, Italian life

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It is probably obvious from my photos that I love le feste Natalizie-the Christmas season.  Festive décor, lights, music and baking help me get through the early darkness and awful weather at this time of year.  I decorate every room in my house, but my favourite piece of Christmas is definitely the Presepio.  A few years ago, I wrote a blog post about the history of Il Presepio and have included photos of mine in previous December posts.

My Presepio has grown over the years, but includes mostly the ‘main players’.  My Mamma’s Presepio also started out this way, but is now a whole village.  It was originally placed under the tree, since l’albero di Natale was a new tradition for most new italocanadesi.  It was eventually moved to the fireplace hearth, and then to a table.  The stable was originally ‘rustic’, made with one of those large paper grocery bags, with the rim folded down many times and a window cut out the back for a light, or a mandarin orange box covered in brown butcher paper. The figures were the Holy Family, an angel, and ox and donkey, a shepherd with a few sheep and the 3 Wise Men. The manger is empty in the photo, as Baby Gesù does not get placed there until tonight, la Vigilia di Natale.www.unpodipepe.caThe 3 Wise Men or Rè Magi are far off in the hills since they do not arrive in Bethlehem until the l’Epifania, January 6th. Trailing behind is La Befana trying to catch up to them.  www.unpodipepe.ca

Presepio figures are not easy to find in Vancouver, but she slowly acquired village people, more shepherds, camels and lots of other animals.  Various pieces were purchased in Assisi, the Vatican and Mexico, even a napkin holder from Venezuela doubles as il forno.  The beautiful starry sky was brought by a friend from Roma. In August I went to Via San Gregorio Armeno in Napoli, the street famous for Presepio making artigiani.

Via San Gregorio Armeni Napoli, Antonio Pepe, www.unpodipepe.ca

‘Lavorazioni di Pastori e Scenografie Presepiati Antonio Pepe’, Via San Gregorio Armeno, Napoli (no relation!)

The Presepio inventory is low in summer, but I bought a terra cotta prosciutto, capicollo and cacciotta and a cestino of eggs which you can see in the photo below. I also bought 2 tiny chairs just like the ones we have in Orsara. I forgot to buy a zampognaro-an Abruzzese bagpiping shepherd-so I will have to go back to Napoli!

Mamma gets very detailed and creative with her Presepio. She starts working on it mid November and really enjoys putting it together. I am often asked to help create accessories.  The cutest detail is the tiny loaves of bread, panini and focaccia Pugliese that she bakes for the forno.Presepio

It is interesting to note that San Francesco d’Assisi created the first Presepio in 1223 in an attempt to return to the true meaning of Christmas and take the focus off of gift-giving.  So Charlie Brown was not the first to search for ‘the true meaning of Christmas’! If any of you have a Presepio, I would love to hear about it!

Cari lettori di Un po’ di pepe, Vi augura un Buonissimo Natale e un meraviglioso 2019 piena di gioia e salute!

Dear readers of Un po’ di pepe, I wish you a very Merry Christmas and a marvelous 2019 filled with health and joy!

Ciao, Cristina

L’Albero di Natale

09 Sunday Dec 2018

Posted by in Feste, Italian life

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L’albero di Natale, my Christmas tree is now up and decorated.  I usually have it all done by now, but I am behind this year.  It was not planned, but I did the Italian thing this year!  December 8th is l’Immacolata Concezione, the festa celebrating the conception of the Vergine Maria.  It is a national holiday in Italia and the official start of le feste Natalizie-the Christmas season.  It is also the day most Italiani put up and decorate their albero di Natale and presepio. The Christmas decorations-addobbi Natalizie stay up until January 6th, la festa del Epifania-after a visit from La Befana. Earlybirds decorate on December 6th the festa di San Nicola.L’albero di Natale is long standing tradition in Northern European countries, but a much newer custom in Italia.  Alberi sempervivi-evergreen trees, have symbolized life, regeneration and immortality.  The Celts, Vikings and pre-Christian Germanic tribes decorated evergreens during Solstice celebrations.  In the harsh northern winters evergreen trees, holly and mistletoe were the only things that stayed green, so they were thought to have magical powers. Wreaths and evergreen branches were hung over doors as a defense against evil spirits and a symbolic defense against the harsh winter.  I can totally relate to this last one.  My addobbi Natalizie help me get through the winter!  ‘Modern’ use of l’albero di Natale started in the 13th Century and became a custom in Northern Europe.  In Southern Europe, it was seen as more of a Protestant custom and did not catch on.  In 1848, when Prince Albert of Germany married Queen Victoria, he brought the Christmas tree custom with him, which spread through the British Empire. Vancouver Club tree 2018Regina Margherita di Savoia-yes she of pizza fame-was the first to decorate un albero di Natale in Italia in the late 1800’s at the Palazzo Quirinale.  The custom spread slowly, but grew in popularity after WWII.  In 1982, Pope Giovanni Paolo II first introduced a tree in Piazza San Pietro. Now most families have un albero di Natale, and the presepio is often placed under the tree.  Is your albero di Natale up yet?  Buon Natale, Cristina

Tutti i Santi

01 Thursday Nov 2018

Posted by in Feste, Italia, Italian Folklore, Orsara di Puglia, Photography, Puglia

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November 1st is Tutti i Santi-All Saints’ Day and is a national holiday in Italia.  It was created in the 9th century when the Pope superimposed a Christian feast day onto existing rituals, so this festa has been around for a very long time. Tonight is also an ancient festa celebrated in Orsara di Puglia called Fucacoste e Cocce Priatorje which is dialetto Orsarese for ‘Falò e teste del Purgatorio’.  This translates to ‘Bonfires and heads from purgatory’ the ‘heads’ being zucche lanterne-carved pumpkin lanterns. For simplicity, it is also called ‘Tutti i Santi’ or ‘La Festa dei Morti’.

The night between November 1stand 2nd provides the opportunity to honour, reconnect and pay respect to the spirits of loved ones.  I wrote about the festa in a 2014 post Fucacoste e Cocce Priatorje, but at that time I had not attended.  I had only heard about it from my parents, family and friends.  Last year I had the opportunity to attend. It was cold but the night was clear and an absolutely amazing, magical, spriritual experience-for me and at least 20,000 others. Orsaresi who live in other parts of Italia and Europe come home for the festa, and visitors come from all over Puglia. Since it is a holiday, many families are able to take an extra long weekend known as il Ponte dei morti.

It is believed that this night between Nov 1 and 2, the souls of the recently dead return among the living to visit their relatives and their former homes before moving on to Paradiso.  Bonfires are lit with wood and branches of ginestra (broom). The light of the fires and the crackling and sparks of the ginestra reaching for the sky attract the spirits, to reunite the living with those who continue to live only in our memories. Fucacoste e Cocce Priatorje www.unpodipepe.caThe light inside ‘cocce priatorje’, pumpkin lanterns carved to look like heads or carved with crosses-light their way to find their former home.

My paesani are busy preparing for the festa for days.  Preparation involves gathering firewood and ginestra, preparing food for family and friends and picking hundreds of locally grown zucche which are carved and placed all over Orsara.  Restaurants and bars prepare for one of their busiest nights of the year.  There is even a laboratorio di intaglio delle zucche– a pumpkin carving workshop.  My street, balcony and front door were decorated with zucche.  In the evening zucche are exhibited and there is a contest for ‘la zucca più bella’.

When the campanile, the church bell tower, strikes 1900 hours, Orsara di Puglia ‘catches fire’.  Bonfires are simultaneously lit in every street and piazza and remain lit through the night.  The fires, illuminated zucche, music and people in the streets create a magical, enchanted atmosphere. There are 3 large municipal falò, and every quartiere – neighbourhood, and many families also light their own.

I made a point of getting off of the main Corso to visit some of the smaller personal falò. In honour of the dead, simple but symbolic seasonal foods are cooked on the open fires and also served as cibo di strada-street food.  These include patate -potatoes, cipolle-onions, salsicce-sausages, castagne-chestnuts and pane cotto-bread cooked with garlic, potatoes and greens.

Salsicce e pancetta nel fuoco

Muscitaglia (moo•shee•tah•lyah) is a traditional dish served November 1st likely dating back from the ancient Greeks and Byazantines. Muscitaglia is made up of the Greek and Latin words mosto (wine must) and talia (grain). The ingredients include boiled grain and vino cotto. Semi di melagrana e pezzi di noci -pomegranate seeds and walnut pieces are often added.  These ingredients are symbols of fertility and abundance, but also of honour and respect for the dead.

Il fuoco e le zucche di Antonella e Domenico

Fucacoste e Cocce Priatorje has often been confused by visitors with the Anglosaxon Hallowe’en, but it is an entirely different event.  Besides the obvious fact that the date is different, dressing up in costume is not part of the custom and there is nothing scary or evil about it.  This is the reason for the hashtag #quinonèhalloween. There are more similarities with Mexico’s Dia de los Muertos/Day of the Dead.  This event is about being together in community to celebrate the bond between the living and those who we remember in our hearts.  It is also to remind us that our time on earth is precious. The following day, November 2nd is l’Anime dei Morti-All Soul’s Day, and it is customary to go to the cemetery to pay respects at the resting place of loved ones.

The 9 minute video below features 94 year old Z’Gaetan talking about the festa and its significance.

This lively 48 second video from 2016 featuring the music of Tarantula Garganica will make you all wish you were there tonight:

If you did not watch the video….watch it now!  I did not make it there this year, but am looking forward to my next trip to Fucacoste e Cocce Priatorje!  Now I am off to my Mamma’s to have muscitaglia! Ciao, Cristina

Panettone

11 Monday Dec 2017

Posted by in Feste, Italian life, Mangiamo!, Parole piacevoli

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Panettone is a Christmas and New Year’s tradition in Italian households. Panettone (pah∙neh∙TOH∙neh) literally means big loaf of bread. Panetto is a small loaf of bread and the suffix ‘one’ makes it a big bread.  The origins of panettone probably date back to the Ancient Romans, who made a leavened bread with honey and raisins.  Bread has always been a symbol of family ties, as in ‘breaking bread’ together. In the middle ages, a sweet leavened bread with dried fruit was incised with the sign of the cross before baking as a blessing for the new year, then distributed to the family.  A slice was also saved for the next year.  In the 1400’s it became custom to make il pane di Natale-Christmas bread, with white flour and costly, hard to find ingredients that made it special.  This was called pane di lusso-luxurious bread, which in Milanese dialect was ‘pan del ton’.  Modern panettone originated 500 years ago in Milano during the reign of Ludovico Sforza (1481-1499). There are several legends regarding its origin.

In the most romanticized legend, Ughetto, son of nobleman Giacometto degli Antellari fell in love with the beautiful Adalgisa. To be near his innamorata, he pretended to be an apprentice baker for her father Antonio, who was called ‘Toni’.  Desperate to impress Toni, Ughetto created a rich bread with yeast, butter, eggs, sugar and canditi- candied cedro and orange peel. The bread was an overwhelming success and people came from all over Milano to taste this ‘pane di toni’ – Toni’s bread.  Duchess Beatrice d’Este, wife of Ludovico Sforza, was so taken with the love story that created this bread that she convinced Giacometto to let his son marry the baker’s daughter.

Another version takes place in Ludovico’s kitchens. There was a custom to prepare a particular dolce for guests on Christmas Eve. Unfortunately, it was burnt, sending the cook into desperation.  One of the kitchen workers, a boy named Antonio, offered the bread he was making for himself using the dough left over the day before from the original dolce. It was a domed sweet bread with grapes.  When the invited guests asked what this delicious dolce was called, the cook replied ‘pan del toni’.

The final legend is the simplest, but probably the most believable.  It involves Suor Ughetta, a young nun in a very poor convent in Milano. To make Christmas Eve more festive, she made a dolce for her fellow sisters with butter, sugar, eggs, canditi and uvette.  Uvetta means raisin in Italiano, and in dialetto Milanese it is pronounced ‘ughetta‘. Whichever legend we choose to believe, today panettone is synonymous with Natale for everyone of Italian origin.

In 1919, baker Angelo Motta opened his first pasticceria in Milano. He let his panettone rise 3 times, to the familiar cupola or dome shape on a cylinder that we see today. Previously the shape of panettone was more schiacciata-lower and more compact. Motta also invented the paper wrap and box. A few years later, he had a competitor in Milano, Gioacchino Alemagna. Their competition led to industrialized production of panettone, with factories replacing the small pasticcerie. They also began exporting all over the world. Today both Motta and Alemagna are owned by Bauli, based in Verona. Last year almost 120 million panettoni were produced in Italia!

I will be enjoying my panettone and prosecco for Capodanno-New Year’s eve, and making panettone French toast with ricotta if there is any left over! I have been experimenting with making my own panettone since last December.  My next post is a recipe for Panettone fatto in casa!  Read about other dolci di Natale in this post. Buon appetito, Cristina