‘Tis the season
to eat panettone,
says Tribeca’s
Grandaisy Bakery
BY TEQUILA MINSKY
It’s no wonder that the major religions
bring candles, lights and sweetness into
their holidays that fall on the darkest
days of the year—they’re sensory ways of
breaking up the dark.
Panettone, the sweet bread originally
from Milan emerges full force around the
winter season.
“In the session on holidays in my Italian
class,” says Yolaine Milfort, “they talk
about the tradition of eating panettone at
Christmas.
Always a seasonal staple at Grandaisy
Bakery, panettone is a cross between bread
and cake says master baker Julio Gruarchaj
at the Tribeca artisanal bake shop.
Gruarchaj explains the three-day process
in creating the Christmas treat.
A starter with wild yeast called biga
(which assists in a fl uffy texture), fl our and
water cures for one day. On the second day,
an equal amount mixture with fl our, eggs,
butter, candied-orange, citron, rum-soaked
raisins is added and it rises for another 24
hours. Shaped and put into the paper forms
on the third day, it rises another eight hours
before baking for 55 minutes.
The cupola-shaped loaves are hung
upside down to cool once out of the oven.
“They would collapse, if they weren’t,” says
Gruarchaj, adding that even in cooling
they continue to bake from the hot, now
upside-down, bottom.
The loaves are bagged and packed in festive
gift boxes on the fourth day —ready for
purchase or shipping.
Grandaisy owner Monica Von Thun
Calderón beams in describing the delicate
and sophisticated taste of her panettone,
The finished product is light, delicate and flavored for the holidays.
“It’s such a surprise. Everyone thinks of it
as a fruit cake, but it’s not heavy.”
And she emphasizes how it’s all natural—
no artifi cial preservatives and the
PHOTOS BY TEQUILA MINSKY
fermentation of the starter keeps her panettone
fresh for literally months.
None the less, she recommends, “It’s a
great gift that is not cluttering a home. You
eat it, enjoy it, and it’s gone.”
That being said, Tribeca neighbor,
masked and bundled-up Nina Schwalbe
and son Cy were spotted a recent afternoon
in the bakery holding to buy the tell-tale
red panettone Christmas box. Schwalbe
informed me that this is the sixth one she’s
purchased this year, “We’re buying these
for all our relatives.”
Available to purchase in the bakery or
on-line for pick-up or sent by UPS, the
bakery has completed baking its last batch,
which they will be selling and shipping
through New Years’.
Schneps Media December 24, 2020 3