This text is part of the special Plaisirs booklet
An undeniable sign of the arrival of the holiday season, panettone is everywhere on the shelves of boutiques, supermarkets and delicatessens. And the brioche, whose origins date back to the Middle Ages, is rooted in the culinary traditions of Quebecers. So much so that she stood out on the other side of the Atlantic.
Panettone is a brioche that melts in the mouth and whose aromas are revealed with finesse. It is art created from scratch by patient, delicate and precise hands following schedules dictated by the leaven. A dessert that is built in three days, both praising slowness and refinement.
“Panettone is certainly a product in which we must remain humble,” said Anthony Daniele, co-founder of the Montreal company Viva Panettone with Éric Goeury. Despite everything, the two partners took the gamble of creating the first company in Canada to devote themselves exclusively to the art of panettone, twelve months a year.
“It’s a project that nobody had dared to carry out before us, we had to open all the doors, think about equipment, supply, raw materials in the idea of making large volumes, without ever losing side artisanal ”, explains Anthony Daniele. And it seems to be working very well for the two partners, Viva Panettone having climbed last November to the final at the Panettone World Cup held in Lugano, Switzerland.
In fact, in a biannual blind tasting competition in front of a jury and a public choice section, Spain, Portugal, France, Australia, the United States, Switzerland, Italy and Canada competed side by side. After a qualifying round in New York, six panettones from Montreal crossed the Atlantic in Anthony Daniele’s hand luggage to be cut, savored and graded during the grand final: “We didn’t. made the podium, but we had the opportunity to meet other artisans and especially to taste panettones that are made all over the world. Conclusion: we have nothing to envy the Italian panettone, even if three Italians made the podium. “
Choose the Italian brioche
Eric Goeury describes his passion for panettone as being both a story of love and challenge: “I am a tourier, I know pastries, brioches and croissants. Then I read an article about this complicated brioche, gave it a try and tasted it. I quickly understood that there are plenty of steps where you can make mistakes. That’s why it’s called the most complicated brioche in the world. But when you master the art of panettone, you understand why it is a fabulous product that speaks to the heart. “
Anthony Daniele is in the same vein, that of emotions: “For me, it is above all a memory of childhood. I have Italian origins and have been eating it since I was little. I used to go to Italy to do the end-of-year supplies. “
The power of ingredients
In each panettone, we find the signature of the craftsman: in the dough, the texture, the choice of ingredients or the aromas. But the key is surely the leaven, the foundation of the panettone. “On its own, it requires at least 10 hours of preparation. You have to take care of it, bathe it, feed it, taste it several times, measure its pH to check its acidity, ”explains Éric Goeury.
Although the tasting of this bread has been anchored in the Christmas tradition, and has been for hundreds of years, nothing prevents you from seeing a little bigger. More and more artisans prepare it all year round by marrying scents with the seasons. “Berries, strawberries, blueberries, pumpkin, panettone can be declined in several ways. We are already thinking of spring… ”promises Anthony Daniele. An ode to the noble syrup that makes the chimneys of maple groves smoke, Viva Panettone also prepares a maple version that already makes your mouth water.
Montreal, capital of panettone?
It was the Signature panettone designed by the two artisans that ended up at the grand final of the Panettone World Cup. Could we hope for a podium in a next edition? Where is Montreal’s know-how for Italian brioche positioned on the international scene? For Éric Goeury, there is everything you need here to make panettones that will rank among the best in the world: “We are the North American capital of gastronomy, why not also become that of panettones? And I say that with all the respect I owe my Italian colleagues. “Some artists write, others paint or sculpt, as Éric Goeury enumerates:” I say that in all modesty and it is not a question of ego. What we do with our panettone is a way of communicating with customers, of giving a little of ourselves. “