Panone di Molinella, rural tradition lives again

According to folk tradition, the Panone (literally big bread) is the most typical Christmas cake of the Bolognese countryside. It is similar to the better-known “certosino”, which was the cake of Bolognese city-dwellers as well as a close relative of the “pampapato” of Ferrara.

It is made with natural and poor products from the sideboard. The Panone used to be baked and it could be preserved for months (outside the fridge obviously!)
  

The Panone has been certified by the Molinella Town Council through an administrative act, that includes also the recipe.

The De.C.O. (Denominazione comunale di origine, thai is to say Municipal Denomination of Origin) is a municipal “typicalness certification” for agroindustrial products which are not otherwise protected. Agroindustrial products can only be labelled as such if they come from Molinella territory and comply with the necessary preparation, marketing and sale formalities as well as the characteristics as provided in the Production Regulation issued by the Molinella town council.

According to article n. 7 of the Production regulation:

"The producer who use the De.C.O. label to produce the Panone must throughly comply with the technical rules as provided in the Production regulation".