The New Gastronome
The Panettone Thief
A Christmas Memory
by Constanze Weiss
by Constanze Weiss
I saw it sitting there, on the kitchen counter, ready to be brought out to the dinner table or for the arrival of some friends who would inevitably find their way to our house, clinking glasses with my parents. At the time, I did not much care about guests. What I did care about, what I had my gaze trained upon since my mother – known to my family simply as Mamù – had left it in the kitchen, was the panettone. It was a classic beauty, and I could not keep my eyes from wandering over all the lovely candied fruit I could make out on the surface. They were my favourites.
Sneakily, I stepped closer, carefully picking just one raisin off the top. There, I had done it. One more, I thought, a mischievous smile spreading on my face as my little fingers worked to unearth a candied orange piece. This time it left a small crater in the dough, but I was too far gone to care. I wanted them all!
“Silvia …” my mother’s voice brought me back to reality. I had been caught red-handed, pieces of uneaten dough crumbling underneath my fingers.
Today, it’s a story that gets repeated and retold every Christmas season, how I would steal the candied fruit from the panettone, never much caring about the dough itself. Years later, having baked the Christmas classic myself more times than I can count, I’ve come to appreciate every part of it.
Today, I would never leave the dough behind, but I might still be caught stealing an extra panettone from our laboratory to enjoy it all by myself. Just don’t tell Mamù 😉
A sprinkle of magic was added to this Christmas memory for our collaboration with Mamù – Piccola Pasticceria! We’ve loved working with them on their communication and tasting our way through their delicious products 😋
