The national and international selections are underway for the second edition of Panettone World Championship, organized by the Accademia dei Maestri del Lievito Madre e del Panettone Italiano. Selections in Italy will take place in six schools Participants abroad from Spain, Singapore, Argentina and Brazil
THE SECOND EDITION
The journey towards the second edition of Panettone World Championship begins. The national and international selections of the event born and organized in Italy have begun, celebrating the most famous Italian leavened product in the world: the traditional artisanal panettone. The finals will take place at HOSTMilano, the world exhibition dedicated to the catering and hospitality sector, on October 24, 2021. The headquarters of ALMA – The International School of Italian Cuisine in Parma will host the semi-finals on October 22.
OBJECTIVES
There are three main objectives of the international event, organized by the Academy of the Masters of Sourdough and Italian Panettone. “Create an important moment of confrontation and synergy. In this very delicate and difficult year – explains Master Claudio Gatti, President of the Academy of the Masters of Sourdough and Italian Panettone – our aim is to start a discussion to promote respect for traditional artisanal panettone. It is produced using only quality raw materials, without the use of chemical additives and preservatives or modifying the natural essence of the basic ingredients. Finally, we want to raise public awareness about the importance of the quality, value and uniqueness of the craftsmanship of traditional artisanal panettone“. The fundamental principle of creating new synergies is supported by three of the most representative media outlets in the world of pastry: Dolcesalato, Italian Gourmet with Il Pasticcere and Gelatiere Italiano and Pasticceria Internazionale will be alongside this Panettone World Championship on this journey to HOSTMilano. “The voice of journalist Francesco Seminara, of the “SoulSalad” radio programme, the first national show entirely dedicated to the food and wine world, will chronicle the various stages of the selections all the way to the finals in Milan”.
A POPULAR JURY
The undisputed stage of this second edition will be the schools that host the selections in Italy and abroad. In 2019, the first edition of Panettone World Championship, the technical jury crowned the baker Alessandro Slama world champion, while Maestro Salvatore Gabbiano’s panettone won over the critical jury. This year a third prize is added, as a popular jury will also vote. “Our panettone is aimed at the public”, explains Maestro Maurizio Bonanomi, of the Academy’s Board of Directors. “For this reason, we have chosen to enhance the jury of professional technicians, recognized all over the world, and the critical jury, made up of authoritative journalists, with a jury of those who simply love panettone, its heritage, and the driving force of history, tradition, passion and commitment behind it”.
Despite this difficult moment in history, the Academy of Sourdough and Italian Panettone is planning different moments of dialogue, together with the partners Agugiaro & Figna Molini and Le Sinfonie, Cesarin Spa, Polin Group, Artecarta Italia Srl and technical sponsor of who Goeldlin Chef will accompany the Masters on this journey to HOSTMilano. This gives impetus to the principles of collaboration, comparison and synergy that make up the Panettone World Championship.
PANETTONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP IN ITALY
PWC’s journey to HOSTMilano will make stops in six of the best national pastry and cooking schools. For the selections in Italy, 30 panettone will be chosen to represent Italy in the semi-finals. The Tessieri School of Ponsacco (Pisa) will kick off the comparison (March 11). On April 12, the selections will move to the Dolce & Salato School, which is based in Maddaloni (Caserta). A few days later, on April 19, the spotlight will be on the candidates who will meet at the Campus Etoile Academy in Tuscania (Viterbo). Then we move to Veneto, in Mellaredo di Pianiga (Venice) to HANGAR 78, which will host the jury on April 26. On May 3, the Panettone World Championship will be in Emilia Romagna at iTalenti al Dulca Srl in Rimini. The penultimate stage, before the semi-finals, will take place at ICIF, the Italian Culinary Institute for Foreigners in Costigliole d’Asti (Asti).
PANETTONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ABROAD
A panettone will be selected as a representative of the foreign country of origin. In total, five representatives from abroad and 30 from Italy will be admitted. First stop for the selections abroad is L’ATELIER BARCELONA, the pastry school founded and directed by pastry Chef Eric Ortuño, together with Ximena Pastor. The selections will take place on April 16. Other selections are planned in Singapore, at The Culinary Institute of America, in Argentina, and in Brazil.
SEMI-FINALS AND FINALS
Thirty-five panettone will compete in the semi-finals that will take place on Friday October 22 at ALMA – The International School of Italian Cuisine in Parma. Of these, only 20 will go to the finals, which takes place on Sunday October 24 at HostMilano 2021. The juries The technical Jury, the quality Jury and the popular Jury will judge the products blindly and only the delegate will be aware of the correspondence between candidate and product. The technical jury is made up of undisputed masters of sourdough, chefs, pastry chefs, master bakers and a jury president. The quality jury is made up of journalists and specialized operators in the communication sector with a deep knowledge of the product and a jury president. The popular jury is made up of a heterogeneous audience elected by drawing lots from special lists.
HOW TO PARTICIPATE
The regulations and the registration form can be viewed and downloaded from the official website of the event (panettoneworldchampionship.it). The deadline to submit requests is March 15. The cost is € 150.00. Each participant will receive communication from the organizing secretariat about the location where they need to send the panettone for the competition.