"They thought I was certifiably crazy."
That was the reaction pastry chef Roy Shvartzapel says he got six years ago when he told colleagues and friends he was starting an online-only panettone business.
"People said, what are you thinking? This will never work. No one in America knows what panettone is, much less enough people to buy enough of it to warrant a business," the Bay Area resident says. But Shvartzapel, who had worked with top chefs including Pierre Hermé, Ferran Adrià, Thomas Keller, and learned to make panettone from Iginio Massari—a man considered to be the godfather of Italian pastry chefs—knew he was onto something.
"I had a belief, possibly because I'd spent so much time in Europe, Italy, and France, that it was only a matter of time before someone was going to introduce a category that already existed. I didn't introduce this category of panettone that's not the inedible $7.99, produced-in-June panettone that we all knew. I didn't invent anything. I just may have been a catalyst for bringing panettone proper attention in the United States and introducing people to a quality level of a product that had long existed."
The response has been brisk. So brisk, in fact, that Shvartzapel can't keep his panettone in stock. Christmas pre-orders on his bakery's website have been closed for nearly two weeks. The site is still accepting New Year's pre-orders, though, and for a holiday exclusive, Shvartzapel teamed up with the Michelin-starred Gucci Osteria da Massimo Bottura in Beverly Hills to create two limited-edition flavors that sell for $150: candied orange with raisin and orange with hazelnut gianduja.
While panettone is undoubtedly having a culinary moment now, its long history is worth exploring. Here's everything you want to know about it.
What Exactly Is Panettone?
Panettone is a slightly sweet bread (or cake, according to some) that is traditionally eaten around the holiday season. It has a dome-like shape, and the best ones have an airy texture along with a rich, buttery taste. The traditional version includes dried fruits like candied orange peels and raisins.
Panettone is often confused with pandoro, another Italian pastry consumed around Christmas. Pandoro originated in Verona, though, and does not typically contain dried druit. It's traditionally made in a taller star shape and topped with powdered sugar.
Where Was It Created?
As legend has it, Panettone's roots date to the 15th century. As John Mariani wrote in The Dictionary of Italian Food and Drink and the Washington Post subsequently highlighted, "the cake derives its name from a 15th-century legend of an Italian baker named Toni. His beautiful daughter was courted by an aristocrat who offered to work as an apprentice in the bakery, just to be near the object of his affection. The apprentice created a very rich and very popular cake that came to be known as 'pain di Toni,' or bread of Tony. (In today's English, the name of the bread is typically pronounced 'pan-neh-To-nay.')"
Whatever the true origin story is, experts agree that panettone has deep connections to Milan. “An entire city identifies itself with this sweet. It’s important for Milan, and for the Milanese,” Stanislao Porzio, author of the book Panettone and the founder and organiser of Re Panettone, the national Italian festival devoted to the food, told the BBC. “But it also is very important for bakeries throughout Italy. Panettone has become the typical Italian Christmas dessert.”
While panettone originated in Italy, Italian immigrants to South America between 1880 and 1900 brought their recipes with them when they settled first in Argentina and then Brazil. Panettone took off in South America, and now Peruvians consume their country's version, made with dried papaya, around Christmas and Peru's Independence Day in July.
How Should I Eat and Store It?
Shvartzapel recommends consuming his panettone at room temperature or slightly warmed with coffee, tea, or dessert wine. He suggests slicing it in half vertically (through the paper mold) with a serrated knife and then cutting it into smaller pieces. The panettone has a shelf life of 30 days, and to preserve its freshness, it should be stored tightly sealed in the bag that it arrives in at room temperature and away from direct sunlight or heat.
Why Is There Such Price Disparity?
The best panettone require a lot of effort to produce. Shvartzapel's, for example, takes approximately 40 hours to make. He starts with a natural starter made from water, flour, and wild yeast, which he then mixes with flour, eggs, butter, and sugar. After that, he kneads the panettone and lets it rest and proof a few times before baking it. To create and preserve the dome-like structure, Shvartzapel and other chefs hang their panettone upside down to cool.
The disparity in price between panettone like the ones offered by Shvartzapel's bakery From Roy, which sells them for $75, and those available for around $10 on Amazon comes from the time required to create the higher-quality versions and the ingredients they use. Bauducco, which makes versions available on Amazon and supermarkets around the United States, is the largest producer of baked goods in Brazil and the largest panettone maker in the world, exporting to more than 80 countries.
Mass-produced panettone is made using a commercial process with commercial yeast and preservatives, which purists avoid. There is also a range of quality among ingredients. Dino Borri is Global VP of Eataly North America, which sells panettone from about 20 different producers. In terms of ingredient variation, Borri says that while traditional Italian versions of panettone are always made using butter, some producers use a less expensive kind of fat, like margarine, which also accounts for lower prices.
"It's very hard to make a good, high-quality product for a lot of people," Borri says. "This is why even the three-Michelin star chefs are making their own panettone. It is an artisanal product and you can make an incredible panettone if you use some unique products." Overall, the chefs' skills, the ingredients, and the process they use to make to make the panettone account for the difference in prices.
There is also a range of sizes. A standard panettone is one kilogram, but Eataly sells panettone in sizes up to 10 kilograms. Borri says the larger the panettone, the more moist and airy it is inside.
A Panettone Festival in New York City
Cristiano Rossi grew up in Italy and had the idea to launch New York's inaugural festival devoted to panettone after opening two Italian pastry shops in the city.
"I realized Americans could not get all the panettone that we had in Italy and they think it's just a sweet bread with raisins and candy, but in Italy, we have panettone filled with pistachio cream or chocolate or truffles or vin santo," Rossi says. "Last Christmas, I brought panettones from famous producers to the United States and I sold more than 500 in two days!"
After that, Rossi saw there was a demand for high-end panettone from top Italian chefs and decided to launch the New York Panettone Festival in Long Island City, which began last weekend and continues December 18 and 19. The festival is free and open to the public. Panettones from chefs including Massari are available for sale, and the response last weekend was strong that 3,000 visitors attended and bought out all the inventory, prompting an early closure on Sunday.
Rossi plans to open an Italian gelateria, the Santa Chiara Caffé, in early 2022 on the ground floor of 52-41 Center Boulevard, a 44-story residential building at Hunters Point South near where the festival is taking place in Long Island City.
He said that a new trend in Italy involves serving savory panettone with olive oil and guanciale and salt instead of sugar. No word yet on whether those will make an appearance at Rossi's next panettone festival.
Here is some of the best panettone you can buy online:
Sullivan Street Bakery Traditional Panettone
Sullivan Street Bakery Traditional Panettone
Sam Dangremond is a Contributing Digital Editor at Town & Country, where he covers men's style, cocktails, travel, and the social scene.
