Panettone in February? You got the date wrong!

I was born in Milan so no wonder Panettone is still my favourite Christmas cake. Would I eat it at another time of the year? My goodness no! but then yes!

On 3th February , if you have kept up the tradition and you are from Lombardy you probably will eat at least a slice of Panettone. Here I explain why, as it is a tradition that probably not many Italians from other regions would know.

Well then…

3rd February is the day of San Biagio, a bishop of Armenian origins who lived in the III century and became a martyr. It is said San Biagio performed a few miracles and here I mention only the one related to this topic.

The most well know miracle was performed by San Biagio saving a young child who risked suffocation because a fish bone had got stuck I his throat.

The very quick-thinking Padre Biagio ( not a saint at the time) make the child eat a piece of bread that, when swallowed, dislodged the offending fish bone from the child’ throat. You can add this to your Paediatric First Aid training if you wish, but at the time that episode gained San Biagio the badge of ‘Santo Protettore della Gola’ ( Patron Saint of the Throat).

It was only a logical consequence that on San Biagio’s Day, something had to be done and this had to do with bread. If you followed me this far, you can already see where this is leading but we still need a link to WHY Panettone and not simply any piece or bread.

We need to refer to a folk story which tells us about a hungry local priest.

A farmer’s wife had brought to church a home-made panettone for the priest to bless before Christmas. As you can imagine, being so busy getting ready for the day, she forgot the Panettone at the church. The poor hungry priest, convinced that the woman was not going to come back, could not resit the temptation and started to eat it. Low and behold, exactly on that 3rd of February long ago, the woman came back to collect the Panettone. Begging for the woman’s forgiveness, the priest picked up what he thought was a largely diminished Panettone but to his surprise he saw that the bread loaf was even bigger than before.

Now we joined all the dots and do not be surprised if you are told that on the Day of San Biagio some families in Lombardy bring to church a piece of Panettone they have saved from Christmas to be blessed and eaten afterwards with their family.

A presto!