The best panettone in the world is not baked in Italy

Did you know that the best panettone in the world is not baked in Italy, but in a small bakery in Barcelona? The Mexican Tonatiuh Cortés is the “master” of this Christmas sweet that has just won the Panettone World Cup.

With the arrival of Christmas, stores in Europe and Latin America dress up and decorate their windows with imposing pyramids of this spongy Christmas bun, a classic of Italian origin.

With chocolate, raisins, candied fruit… The options are endless and everyone has their favorite. However, this year, for the first time in history, the title of best in the world has crossed Italian borders. The prestigious award has been won by “Ton”, a talented Mexican baker from the Suca’l bakery in Barcelona (Spain).

Ton, as he is affectionately called, left his career as a musician behind to follow his passion for baking. He still remembers that bread he baked for the first time with a utensil purchased from an online store. Over the past few years, he has dedicated his talent and creativity to perfecting the recipe for this sweet bread.

The best panettone of the world

The Panettone World Cup is the great international event dedicated to the artisan production of this sweet bun. It was created to celebrate the history and development of a product capable of transcending its original borders to prevail on the global pastry scene.

On October 14, its fourth edition was held in Milan, where the best pastry chefs and experts of this Christmas bread from Italy and the rest of the world met with an international jury.

For three consecutive days there were presentations, master classes and workshops at the Castiglioni Palacewhere the judges and participants had the opportunity to taste the best panettone in the world in the traditional and chocolate categories.

After two years of national selections in different states, 24 pastry chefs in the Traditional Panettone category and 18 in the Chocolate Panettone category reached the final. The finalists came from Europe, Asia, Latin America, the United States and Australia.

The title of best panettone of the world in the traditional category was taken by maestro Ton Cortés, Pasquale Pesce was second and Maurizio Sarioli third, both Italians.

For its part, the podium in the category of best panettone of chocolate was completely Italian. Pasquale Iannelli, Pasquale Marigliano and Armando Pascarella were the three winners.

What is the origin of this Christmas sweet?

The history of panettone (big bread) combines tradition and legend. Among the numerous hypotheses that are being considered about its origin, there is one common fact in all of them, and that is that it comes from Milan, in northern Italy.

Until the year 1400, wheat was a highly appreciated cereal and affordable only for the upper class. However, at Christmas the city’s bakeries were allowed to bake with this type of cereal.

The “papal chef” Bartolomeo Scappiwho cooked for four Popes, was the “secret cook” of Pius V and even took charge of the coronation banquet of Emperor Charles I of Spain and V of Germany, published six cookbooks in 1570 under the title From the art of cookingin which he included a panettone similar to what we know today.

Among the legends about its origin, the most widespread refers to a Christmas Eve in the 15th century celebrated at the court of the Duke of Milan, Ludovico Sforza, known as “Ludovico il Moro”.

In the kitchen of this nobleman, famous for having been a patron of artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, a great commotion arose because the Christmas pudding that had been prepared for the great occasion was burned.

The story goes that Toni, a court servant, saved the dessert by filling a loaf of bread with raisins, sugar and nuts. The Italian nobleman liked this invention so much that he decided to call it “Toni’s Bread”.

The origin of panettone It is also linked to the Borromeo Catholic school in Pavia, founded by Saint Charles Borromeo. In this center, Catholic priests and teachers trained promising young people with few resources. As early as 1599, Christmas bread made with raisins and spices was served in schools.

However, the design of the panettone in the shape of a dome we owe it to the pastry chef Angelo Motta, who at the beginning of the 20th century decided to break with the flattened shape of bread used until then.