The story of Pan Dulce

The story of this iconic piece of the Christmas table started in Italy and then came to Latin-America, where it receives different names and secrets of elaboration.

Whenever you try to identify the origin of a certain product, you can frequently find that there were always Egyptian people involved, and more closely in time is almost impossible not to find that the Romans where involved too. In the case of the Pan Dulce, the Romans were used to have bread sweetened with honey.

In Italy around the 21^st Century it was called panettone or “big bread”. Some people like to call it “Golden bread”. The first ones used to have candied and dried fruits.

A legend about the origin of this delicious pastry is that in one of the amazing and famous banquets served by Ludovico Sforza in Milan around the 15^th Century, a cook had burnt the special dessert prepared for the night. That is when one of his assistants named Antonio offered his help and made a super sweet bread, full of bread and candied fruits. This bread got such a good reaction by the dutch, that he demanded to meet the assistant himself and name the bread after him, “Pane de Tone” hence “panettone”.

Along the years, its elaboration and production expanded to too many countries in the world where it got called differently, but it was always associated to Christmas. In Latin-America it became really popular because of Italian immigration and here in Argentina it is called “Pan Dulce” and is one of the most important items of the Christmas table.

In Buenos Aires around the 60s of the past century, people used to choose from the ones made by the brand Canale, but it was also made by the big and luxurious “confiterias” like El Molino, Águila, and Los dos Boulevares among others. Nowadays, around Christmas time, you can find them at any local bakery or at any store.

Finally, we leave you with a little tip on which to serve it with: it is definitely your choice, but it tastes amazing with good champagne or cider. If alcohol it’s not your thing and you’re blessed to enjoy Christmas on a colder weather than us then hot chocolate is a very good option too.

Do you like Pan Dulce or Panettone? Do you prefer it with fruits or with chocolate chips? Don’t forget that you can buy Pan Dulce from Argentine brands here at www.pampadirect.com