Panettone Day: Italian chefs Bertoli and Romano conquer the jury

Raffaele Romano for the "traditional panettone" category and Piero Bertoli for the "creative panettone" category are the winning chefs of Panettone Day 2018. The event, promoted by Braims in partnership with Novacart in Milan, enhances the Italian confectionery tradition by awarding the best panettone every year.

Novacart could not miss: in the fifties it was the great Italian company to patent the paper mold and the cages for cooking panettone, tools that have opened the way to the use of paper as a technical element both for cooking and for the presentation of the finished cake.

The 20 finalists for the Traditional Panettone category and the 5 for the Creative Sweet Panettone category were chosen by a jury of experts, led by Iginio Massari.

"The winning factor of a good panettone is the harmony of flavors" explained the maestro. "There must be no overlap between the ingredients and each element must be perfectly recognizable."

Raffaele Romano, from the Gran Caffè Romano pastry shop in Solofra in the province of Avellino, convinced the jury thanks to his enthusiasm and to a classic version of the panettone prepared with the best ingredients of the Campania tradition.

Piero Bertoli, from the Bertoli pastry shop in Varallo in the province of Vercelli, has instead conquered the palates of the jury with a panettone with peaches, macaroons and dark chocolate.