These two icons of Italian Christmas gastronomy are not missing from the tables of Italian homes, but there are those who prefer panettone, rich in raisins and candied fruits, and those who love pandoro, buttery and without fillings.
This Christmas ‘derby’ about which of these is better is as old as the sweets themselves, although almost all of them agree and panettone usually wins the game.
“The proportion of panettones and pandoros that we sell is 10 to 1,” says Roberto Cantiani, a pastry chef in a pastry shop in the center of Rome, which these days becomes a coming and going of Italians finalizing their purchases for the celebrations.
A fairly large difference, which, in an entire Christmas season, translates into the sale of “4,000 panettones and about 500 pandoros,” says Cantiani.
Paola, an Italian who goes to Cantiani’s pastry shop, confirms the statistic and chooses the panettone because “it is tastier” and she also buys it without sugar, because it is “too caloric” and without the candied fruit.
This tradition also seduces a large number of tourists who change the usual ‘souvenirs’ for these traditional sweets that, with their attractive packaging, accompanied by bows and Christmas motifs, make them another decoration in homes, shop windows and shelves of businesses and Italian homes.
The secret? “Each pastry chef has his own,” Cantiani acknowledges, although “passion, love and quality ingredients” are the key for his flavor to succeed.
The difference between the two is not only in the shape: the dough is more airy and brioche-like in panettone, while it is more compact and soft in pandoro. Regarding the aroma, it is more fruity in the Milanese dessert and vanilla in the Verona specialty.
The flavors, as with any recipe, adapt to the tastes of consumers, from the most classic, made based on the traditional recipe, to more popular flavors today such as cocoa and hazelnut cream, pistachio or creams of fruit.
But the need to renew itself has led to transforming the tastes of both sweets into proposals such as panettone ‘al Spritz’ or ‘al Capuccino’.
Nutritionists are also expressing themselves in the media on the subject these days and are unanimous: panettone is less caloric, although the difference is minimal.
Nutritional biologist Francesca Morganti in Corriere della Sera explains: “Pandoro, in fact, has a higher calorie content: 100 g of this product is around 400 kcal, compared to 350 kcal for panettone. The higher caloric content of pandoro depends on a higher percentage of fat, since it has a higher butter content.”
Although, the traditional panettone, with candied fruit, is still the most chosen option, says David, who during Christmas helps his sister in a small bakery just a few meters from St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican and which has been awarded for making the best product in Italy for the V Artisanal Panettone Festival.
Although it is an essential sweet for Italians, among young people it is not as successful as it should be, since “now they do not maintain traditions,” and the bulk of consumers are older “over the age of 30,” says David. .
In this small bakery, which sells other Italian sweets during the rest of the year, on a good day they can sell up to ten panettones. “People come from Latin America, and even Japan to buy,” he says.
