They are young, enterprising and visionaries: their names are Gianluca, Barbara and Magda, the three guys who won first place at Panettone Day, the competition for the best panettone, in the traditional, Ruby chocolate and creative categories. The event, now in its eighth edition, was chaired by the great pastry chef Iginio Massari and every year wants to reward the Italian artisan quality in pastry. The award ceremony was held last October by Cracco Bistrot in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele in Milan.
Who are Gianluca, Barbara and Magda
Of the three boys, only Magda Fasciglione she is a daughter of art: her family owns a pastry shop in Bra, in the province of Cuneo and there Magda has always breathed the intense scent of leavened products and the pleasure of dough. "I have confectionery in my DNA, I have always followed mum and dad, I am happy to carry on their dream, the dream of my family for generations – Magda told us – and now this recognition is a bit of confirmation that my road is the right one. We spent the April lockdown experimenting with all the possible variations on the classic panettone, up to the point to a version in which butter, coffee and Gold chocolate have bewitched the jury. Now I have even more desire to create new types of this dessert which for me remains the most eclectic of all .
He did it himself instead Gianluca Prete, pastry chef of the Fumagalli pastry shop in the province of Como. The first place in the Panettone Day contest was won by experimenting with yeast, until obtaining a panettone higher than all the others, softer and incredibly melt-in-the-mouth. «I have a classical training, cream puffs, leavened products and mignon pastries. But my obsession has always been panettone, because I find it a truly innovative product, with which you can do a lot of research. Now I have one more reason to continue my journey .
The pastry shop entered Barbara Braghero's life by chance, since, to follow the love that brought her to Sicily, she, who has always lived in Turin, she invented a profession and now leads the pastry shop Stories of a grain of wheat with her husband in Fiumefreddo, in the province of Catania. Winner of the Ruby Chocolate Panettone category, she says that she has made pink chocolate her philosophy of life. «With our work we are creators of emotions, and which product more than chocolate and, specifically the Ruby variety, is suitable for achieving this goal? Pink chocolate also has a delicacy and freshness that make it perfect for many combinations. I can't do without it anymore "he concludes.
For everyone, the Panettone Day contest was a good showcase to make themselves known, to test themselves and to learn the strict rules of pastry, which remains the most beautiful profession in the world, to be carried out with love and not passion, which, like says Maestro Massari, sooner or later it fades and disappears.
