Holiday visit to Milano

The Christmas Store, and the Magic of Panettone

In 2014 I made my first trip to Terra Madre in Torino, and afterward Terry W and I spent a couple days in Milano. While wandering we discovered a magical store filled decorated for Christmas with bold and wonderful items — it was so beautiful they forbid taking pictures.

(Also, in the next day or so I’ll be posting some of the things I’ve been learning in class, so be prepared for some mind-blowing, and slightly depressing, facts coming your way.)

When I came back to Terra Madre in 2016 I returned to that store, only to find it was closed because they were preparing for Christmas. In 2022 I checked before I went, and indeed confirmed they were again closed for preparation. But this year I could more easily get there and so I did as I visited Milano this weekend, ten years later, and it was as magical as I remembered — below are some pictures.

But first, just last week I received an email from Food 52 (which used to be a wonderful resource for recipes but has since become more about shopping) promoting a panettone from Cova in Milano, and I thought, HA, I WILL GO THERE MYSELF.

And so I did.

A slice of panettone and espresso to Cova Patisserie in Milano.

Panettone is a holiday treat in Italy, specifically invented in Milano but now the epitome of Italian Christmas. Its origins date back to around 1600, and its technique is technical and wondrous, creating a fluffy sweet cake, which is really a bread.

Surprisingly, this sweetness begins with sourdough starter, which every bakery carefully protects, often over generations. Not to burst anyone’s bubble, but a sourdough mother, no matter how it begins, over time is taken over by local yeasts in the air, even as it steeps in the richness of its locale. Which shouldn’t take anything away from an old starter — the beauty of the starter is the magic of the particular place where it lives.

Starter, flour, water, sugar, eggs, butter, and then 48 hours of fermenting and mixing and fermenting and mixing. At this point, traditional candied fruits enter the dance, or sometimes chocolate or nuts or another flavoring. The cakes (ahem, breads) are put in special paper molds to rise vertically, baked, and then hung upside down to cool and preserve the perfectly shaped dome.

Food 52 takes amazing pictures. Just FYI, their price is double the price in Milano, but they are getting them across the pond.

We’ve carried various panettone at Tale to Table, and they’re fantastic, but this one was truly amazing. And not in a small way because I was enjoying this particular piece in the exact place it is made.

But of course nothing is so great that it cannot be mass-produced more cheaply, so the grocery aisles overflow with cakes/breads, with small ones for a few Euros and larger ones starting around €9. Today I saw a small one in Pokémon packaging.

If you find some, give it a try.

The Christmas store is Ecliss, and is normally an interior decorating shop, except for this time of year. I will leave you alone with the photos, and you can transport yourself into the magic.

Proof of attendance.

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