What is a panettone? An Italian Christmas sweet? An extra-large loaf? A calorie bomb? A dough made of gluten networks, gelled starches, sugars, flavorings, and air pockets? The answer is that it's all of these things, as it depends on your perspective. What seems undeniable is that we are looking at a culinary masterpiece.

It's become a tradition, like the Christmas lights being switched on or the crowds waiting for Black Friday deals. When the Gastronomic Forum of Barcelona arrives, so does the competition to find out where to find the best classic fruit panettone and the best chocolate panettone. This year, the winners were Cal Jan in Torredembarra for the chocolate panettone (which they also won in 2021). Rafel and Adrià Aguilera (uncle and nephew) accepted the award. According to Rafel Aguilera, it's good news because they have "payroll to pay and it's a reward for the work we do and for the artisanal work," and he wanted to remind everyone that "panettone is unforgiving," referring to the difficulty of making a good one. Cal Jan was founded in 2012 by brothers Rafel, Siscu, and Jordi Aguilera. In 2021, they won the same competition, and two years later, Adrià Aguilera was selected to represent Spain at the World Panettone Championship held in Milan, where he won second place for his chocolate panettone and third place for the traditional one. Regarding the fruit panettone, the prize went to Oriol Carrió and his two pastry shops in Barcelona (on Bailén and Provença streets, and soon a bakery in Sagrada Família). Oriol Carrió, along with his sister Anna, are second-generation pastry chefs and staunch advocates of innovation based on Catalan pastry tradition. They were the deserved winners among the 40 entries in each category. A professional jury

The jury began deliberating this morning and took into account the flavor as well as factors such as the aroma, the structure of the pier, the appearance of the glaze, and the shape. Last year's winner, and therefore this year's winner was Toni Vera from the Canal pastry shop on Muntaner i Calvet street, and therefore could not participate as a contestant but as a judge.who just won the competition for best butter croissantand Felipe de Santa Cruz for the Madeleine by Ferrieres pastry shop on Llull Street, in the chocolate category. Both are located in Barcelona. Besides these two pastry chefs, the rest of the professional jury included baker Ibán Yarza and pastry chef Ramón Morante, as well as chefs Sergio and Javier Torres, among others. According to one jury member, "this year there was a very high level of quality, but also some panettone with too much vanilla," referring to a proportion that wasn't quite right.

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It was 2013 when the cronut traveled around the world Although it was created in Manhattan's SoHo neighborhood by pastry chef Dominique Ansel, that sweet treat that combined the shape of a donut with croissant dough broke new ground, and every bakery wanted to imitate it. In our country, pastry chef Joe Moretones had been pursuing the idea of using panettone dough to make an ensaimada for years. Apparently, based on its shape, it would be an ensaimada, but inside, it would be a panettone, with one key difference: it wouldn't have butter, but lard. He even dreamed about what he would name it: ensaïmattone.

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