It's Pannetone season
and my favorite coffee company
A couple of weekends ago, I made a trip into The City (Manhattan for those of you who aren’t local) and did some last-minute food shopping. Pat and I made sure we had plenty of time to drop into Eataly, the renowned Italian wonderland of restaurants, bread, fresh pasta, packaged food galore, espresso bar, gelato counter, cheese market, etc…etc… and, of course, the tower of Pannetone.
For me, it’s always a tingle of happiness when I spy that tower.
So, what’s inside the beautifully wrapped packages that start appearing this time of year in grocery stores or food shops? It’s a traditional Italian yeasted, slightly sweet, buttery, golden bread that is said to have originated in Milan as early as the 15th century. The “authentic” recipe is made with a natural yeast process called lievito madre similar to sourdough starter. It is the most beautiful dough - it’s super soft – so soft in fact that you can barely cut it in a thin slice - it insists on being a chunk.
I was probably first introduced to Pannetone when I moved to Manhattan and became acquainted with said Pannetone towers at Balducci’s in Greenwich Village. Balducci’s was an amazing food store that we sadly lost in January 2003. But in the timeframe I lived in the Village, I always had to have Pannetone. Years later, when I opened the first Mary’s Marvelous store, both Pat and I agreed it was a “must have” on our shelves for the holidays.
Pannetone is protected …
Yes! There is a Pannetone law.
It turns out that Italy only exports 10% of their thousands of pounds of Pannetone made each year to the United States, and the recipe is a valuable cultural artifact. The “law” is 20% of its weight must be in fruit, 16% in butter, and 4% in egg yolks. It must be made using natural fermentation.
I LOVE that there is a law that butter must be used!
The fruit can vary in the recipe, with some Pannetone proffering wine-soaked raisins, the traditional candied peel and lemon, fig versions, chocolate versions, and even gluten-free.
At Mary’s Marvelous, we would have to place our order directly with our Italian distributor in September to receive our allotted amount in early December.
I would order the “classic” (loaded with fruit), the Moscato (wine-soaked raisins and my favorite), and then I’d get something non-traditional with cherries or figs. If you’re not a fruit fan, Italy obliges with the same dough and no fruit in their “Pandoro” version. I’d order a few of those as well.
Now, you may be thinking, “But aren’t you a baker? Can’t you just whip this thing up and give us the recipe down below?”
Not with this baby. Honestly, I considered making the recipe at one point but realized in the research alone that it’s a very lengthy process requiring days of attention and love. It has a sort of culture that proofs for a few days, and then there’s folding and rising and careful handling… it seemed daunting to me.
Pannetone’s stealth approach
Initally, Pannetone was not an easy sell to our patrons, even with their wondering what was in the pretty wrapping. I would put out teaser tastes and talk about the wonderfulness of it all and then people caught on.
Once you “catch on” to Pannetone, you realize somewhere along the way that it has, instead, caught you.
If we had any remaining Pannetone after the holiday, we would make Pannetone bread pudding, which became a raving favorite with our patrons, too. I realized its importance in our holiday mainstay when I chose not to order our allotment in our last year of business. I can’t even tell you how many customers came in, bewildered and lost, wondering where their Pannetone had gone.
We still bring it to our family gatherings for the morning after Christmas. We’ll all be gathered at the table, eating and chatting with a great mug of coffee and invariably discover - with true dismay - that the Pannetone has already been devoured. (It must be that chunky slice it insists on being.) It’s irresistible and pretty much impossible to stop eating. And, boy, it seems such a long year’s wait for the next yummy bite.
Speaking of great mugs of coffee …
Coffee was really important at Mary’s Marvelous and for the life of the shop, we chose just one coffee supplier, namely because they had a phenomenal Chief Coffee guy, Jon Phillips.
There are coffee experts, and then there are coffee experts who dedicate their every waking moment to producing a truly memorable taste. These specialists are as rare and unique as the best wine sommeliers.
On occasions, we would take our team to our coffee supplier’s “home base” for tours of the roasting facility and workshops with Jon and his team. He would train us on how to taste coffee, how to make perfect cappuccinos and lattes, and how to “pull” a perfect espresso.
After we closed our shop in 2021, I had been following Jon and his wife and partner, Briana, as they struck out on their own, moving to Biddeford, Maine, and opening Time and Tide Coffee. Pat and I order nothing else for our own family table.
Bags of coffee beans make great stocking stuffers or Hanukkah gifts too!
