Signore Panettone from St. Gallen
Pietro Cappelli's panettoni is popular throughout Switzerland
Gold for Switzerland's best panettone. Travel broadens the mind and, thanks to Pietro Cappelli, also the palate. The cult baker from St. Gallen – famous for his croissants for many years – now also spoils customers who come to him from far and wide with his panettone. Even the former Italian prime minister has already ordered a ‘Panettone di San Gallo’.
A glimpse inside Pietro Cappelli's panetteria
When the delicious smell of fresh bread wafts through Linsebühl in the morning and people are queuing up in the small bakery, you know you've arrived at Pietro Cappelli's panetteria. The lively master baker has been running his business at Linsebühlstrasse 80 in St. Gallen for 37 years. The friendly panetteria is home to the best panettone in Switzerland. Pietro Cappelli has won over 20 medals for his ‘Panettone di San Gallo’. ‘What we do here wouldn't work in Italy,’ explains Cappelli. Panettone is traditionally a Christmas cake and is only sold in Italy after All Saints' Day, which is in November at the earliest. In the World Heritage city of St. Gallen, panettone is in demand all year round. Depending on the season, customers can choose from up to 15 varieties of panettone. And so Cappelli never runs out of work in the bakery. ‘Customers like the traditional panettone with candied fruit and raisins best,’ explains the master baker. Some of the fruit that Cappelli uses for his panettone comes from his mother's garden on the Italian island of Lipari and he candies it himself. Unlike a panettone, which contains industrially processed fruit, his creations are made with fresh products, from the fruit to the dough. ‘Accordingly, they should not be stored for months,’ explains Cappelli. Ultimately, it is the small refinements, such as candying the fruit, that make his panettone special.
The history of panettone
Behind every good product there is also a good story, and this is certainly true of Pietro Cappelli's. According to Pietro, the story begins in the Middle Ages in the monastery of St. Gallen, where a Padre Bernardo Antonio was responsible for baking bread: Padre Antonio always gave the monks enough bread for the road when they set out on a pilgrimage. For the pilgrims, the bread was very nourishing but bland. They asked Padre Antonio to ‘add’ something to the bread. Padre Antonio fulfilled the monks' wish and added pieces of apple to the bread when there were plenty of apples available, or raisins, which sweetened the bread a little. Padre Antonio was always coming up with new ideas and his experiments were successful. The monks happily took the delicious bread from Padre Antonio with them on their travels. When one of the St. Gallen monks arrived in Italy and was asked what kind of bread he ate, he spontaneously invented a name for it. He combined the name Padre Antonio to create the term Panettone = Pa(dre)-nettone (Antonio). As the Italian saying goes, if it isn't true, it's a good invention. The story is certainly apt.
The Panettone di San Gallo in Rome
And how did a ‘Panettone di San Gallo’ come to be with the Prime Minister in Rome? ‘I had submitted a panettone to the Swiss Bakers’ and Confectioners' Association for evaluation and did very well. In addition, an Italian member of parliament travelling through the country issued me with an Italian certificate praising my panettone. This greatly annoyed the Ticino bakers,’ says Cappelli. There was a great deal of agitation about the “arbitrary” certificate, which even led to a complaint being filed with the Italian Ministry. The former Prime Minister was also made aware of the deep indignation of the Ticino bakers. When he was informed about what had happened, he had to laugh. However, his curiosity got the better of him and he ordered a panettone from Cappelli. ‘And so it came about that a Panettone di San Gallo found its way to Rome,’ grins Cappelli. The panettone produced by Pietro Cappelli is available throughout the year at the panetteria now run by Pascal Fischbacher. Demand is particularly high at Christmas, when the ‘Fabbrica del Panettone’ at Linsebühlstrasse 108 is also used as a sales and production location.
How to get there: take the Voralpen-Express to St. Gallen.
