Italy: A Brief Portrait of Panforte di Siena
Panforte di Siena is one of Italy's
best known Christmas cakes while the
other is "panettone". Both of these
special holiday desserts invite a
linguistic explanation and panforte
begs for an historical essay as well.
I couldn't resist the opportunity!
"Pane," of course, is Italian for bread.
"Panforte" means "strong or tough bread"
and "panettone" means "big bread." The
latter is almost a balloon bread or sponge
cake as it relies on yeast. When cooked
in a coffee can it rises to take the shape
of a stove-pipe hat. (See Paola's recipe
for panettone here. ) Panforte, on the
other hand, is a hard flat bread without
yeast.
Panforte single-handedly defines a category
of Italian sweet breadscalled "pan pepato"
- literally, "peppered bread" but actually
meaning "spicey bread." The adjective
"pepato," means "peppered" but has come to
be more inclusive, referring to the variety
of exotic spices from the east that entered
the Italian culinary lexicon in the 10th
and 11th centuries, including all the spices
listed in Paola's recipe (cinnamon, coriander,
cloves, nutmeg, cardamom and pepper).
The origins of these breads, though obscure,
are assumed to be the Middle East where
voyagers and merchants from Italy discovered
them in the Middle Ages as commerce between
Italy and the Levant boomed. Certainly the
ingredients suggest a Mediterranean and Middle
Eastern origin since lemons, oranges and
almonds are not Tuscan or Ligurian crops
(actually, lemons do grow in the mild Ligurian
climate but they don't grow easily here).
And certainly the exotic spices had to come
to Italy by way of Middle Eastern intermediaries.
Just when and how panforte became the exclusive
Christmas dessert of Siena is lost to history
and to legend but there is no doubt among 95%
of Italians that Siena and panforte go hand in
hand. Travelers in Italy in this season who go
anywhere near Siena wouldn't dare return home
without fresh panforte to share with family.
And the bakers of Siena export packaged panforte
throughout Italy and the world (indeed, you can
even order panforte di Siena online from
Amazon.com!)
The 5% of Italians who might deny that Siena
holds a monopoly on panforte come from towns
where a version of this Medieval fruitcake
is still made, as in Sarzana, for example,
or just over the mountains in Reggio Emilia
and the nearby town of Brescello. Sarzana is
in Liguria on the border with Tuscany. There
they make "spongata" which is a sweet bread
very similar to panforte and with similar
origins.
As you'll see when you read the recipe,
making panforte is an involved process with
exotic ingredients from the far corners of
the world. You'll also find, though, that it
is well worth the time and effort as it not
only smells great while baking, but it will
help connect you with one of the oldest holiday
traditions in Western Europe, dating easily to
the 11th century. If you're too busy to make
your own, try ordering one or make a panettone
instead.
Recipes: Panettone, Italian Christmas Bread
My father would bring home at least two
brightly colored boxes -the color blue
dominated - inside a delicious, rounded
mound of a cake-like, light and spongy
mixture wrapped in a clear plastic bag.
We would eat it before, during and after
Christmas day, New Year's and Epiphany
(January 6). One thing I did not like about
Panettone was the candied fruit, but I had
no trouble taking the little hard pieces of
fruit off the light dough.
Of course we never baked Panettone at home.
I don't think I ever saw a recipe for it!
There were bakers in Milan and then in other
cities who made them and sent them all over
Italy! Many different variations of Panettone
gradually sprung up all over the country making
the simple, light cake more refined and much
richer or sweeter.
I was happy to find a recipe in the 1980 edition
of the Sunset Cook Book of Breads for Panettone,
which reminded me of the original version that I
have baked for years for our family and close
friends. The outcome of this recipe does not taste
exactly like the boxed Panettone found in speciality
stores here in the United States, but it has the
advantage of being genuine and delicious if eaten
within 48 hours! Moreover, I had the choice of not
putting the candied fruit suggested in the recipe!
This recipe has retained the cake-like and moderately
sweet character of the original Panettone!
The Recipe:
Ingredients
(you can increase them by 1 1/2 or even double them,
and the results are still good):
* 1 egg
* 2 egg yolks
* ¾ cup sugar
* ½ cup (¼ lb) butter or margarine, melted and cooled
* 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
* 1 teaspoon each of anise seed and anise extract (optional): (vanilla extract
is also good)
* ¼ cup each pine nuts, raisins and coarsely chopped, mixed candied fruit (your
choice!)
* 2⅔ cups all-purpose flour (sift before measuring) (here I put ½ white
and ½ whole wheat pastry flour)
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* ½ teaspoon salt (optional)
* 1 cup milk
In a large bowl beat egg, egg yolks and
sugar together until thick and pale yellow.
Beat in butter; then add lemon peel, anise, nuts, etc..
Stir together flour, baking powder and salt.
Stir in the milk, add remaining ingredients and mix well.
Blend thoroughly.
Grease well your small, or medium-large coffee cans,
(be sure to remove the label!) dust them with flour
and spoon in the batter so as to fill just half the cans.
Bake in a 325 F oven for about 45 minutes to an hour,
depending on how big your cans are.
Cool off before sliding slowly the little long cakes out
of the cans. Cut in wedges and serve.
Buone Feste!
- Paola
Paola Malpezzi-Price is co-founder of Experienceplus!
Besides being main adviser to Rick on the company's
issues, Paola teaches French literature and culture,
Italian literature and culture in translation and
Women's Studies courses at Colorado State University
where she is a professor. In 2003 her book Moderata
Fonte - Women and Life in Sixteenth-century Venice
was published by Fairleigh University Press. She
continues her research on women's issues in France
and Italy of the Early Modern Period. If you would
like to contact Paola, send an e-mail to
@ExperiencePlus.com.
Rick Price, Ph.D in Cultural Geography, and his
wife, Paola Malpezzi-Price, Ph.D in Romance Languages,
are the owners and founders of ExperiencePlus!
Specialty Tours, Inc. Since 1969 they have walked
and bicycled throughout Europe, exploring local
cultures and collecting stories. Many of the essays,
book reviews, and recipes in the ExperiencePlus!
Reading Room derive from their travel experiences
over the years. If you would like to contact Rick or
Paola you can e-mail them at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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