Panettone – how it got its name
This Christmas, think of something different, something special that would add that touch of brilliance and tradition to your seasonal celebrations. And if you are indeed in the look-out for that perfect blend of tradition and premium, what better than adding panettone to your Christmas celebrations.
Panettone is a very popular and traditional Italian Christmas sweet that typically hails from Milan and brings with it a slice of the very best of Italian tradition. Apart from its traditional flavour, Panettone is is also available chocolate flavour and without the candied fruits. It is popularly served in vertical slices and is often enjoyed with hot cocoa, sweet wines or sweet liquors like amaretto. Now that you know a bit about panettone (that is if you were already not aware of it already) you must be wondering how it got its unique name ‘Panettone’. Like most other traditional Italian products, here are a few interesting legends about our very own panettone.
One legend about the panettone says that one of the ecclesiastical brothers, Fr. Antonio, would always be seen wearing a proper hat and was fond of this pane. Many would believe that panettone got its unique raised shape as a tribute to this ecclesiastical hat Pane Tone giving it, its name. The richness of the contents of panettone is no secret which leads to another legend that sug.gests that panettone derived its name from the Milanese “pan del ton” meaning “bread of luxury” – referring to the richness of contents in a traditional panettone!
Another story about the panettone sug.gests that it was in fact invented in the the court of Sforzas. The story says that one Christmas meal, the cook did not have anything sweet to offer to the guests. Having left with no other option and with much skepticism in mind he offered to the guests a simple sweet bread made by a kitchen boy called Toni. But, as history would have it, this bread was loved by all the gathered guests and earned great accolades leading to it being named after its inventor ‘Toni’.
But, the most interesting of all the legends about the panettone is the one which speaks about Ughetton Atellani, a fifteenth century nobleman, who fell in love with Adalgisa, the daughter of a poor baker named Toni. In an attempt to impress Toni with his humble background, Ughetton, disguised himself as a baker and invented a new bread adding flour, yeast, butter, eggs, dried raisins, candied lemon and orange peel which left Toni very impressed indeed. The story continues with the approval of the Duke of Milan for the marriage which took place in the presence of Leonardo di vinci. This lead to the launch of this new bread: named Pan de Toni (or Toni’s bread)
If the historical roots of the panettone have got you all excited and eager to add it to your Christmas celebrations, you will definitely be in the look-out for a credible supplier of the finest quality panettone. If you are in the UK and looking for an authentic source of traditional panettone, you should look into the different online Italian delis. These niche online retailers offer a wide range of Italian Christmas products -ensuring that their dedicated customers can enjoy the very best of Italian Christmas tradition. So choose your online Italian deli and then you will just a click away from enjoying your favourite panettone this Christmas season.
If you are in London and looking for the best quality Panettone, you must visit www.nifeislife.com . This online deli offers more than 800 authentic Italian products that include the Torrone, cheeses, ham , pasta, sauces just to name a few at the most affordable prices !
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