Pandoro
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Template:Lang (Template:IPA) is an Italian sweet bread, most popular around Christmas and New Year. Typically a product of the city of Verona, Veneto, Template:Lang traditionally has an eight-pointed shape.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> It is often dusted with vanilla scented icing sugar, which is said to resemble the snowy peaks of the Alps during Christmas. Its name and origins are attributed to the Italian pastry chef Template:Ill.<ref name="nytimes/pandoro"/>
History
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The first citation of a dessert clearly identified as Template:Lang dates to the 18th century. The dessert certainly figured in the cuisine of the Venetian aristocracy. Venice was the principal market for spices as late as the 18th century, as well as for the sugar that by then had replaced honey in European pastries and bread made from leavened dough. It was at Verona, in Venetian territory, that the formula for making Template:Lang was developed and perfected, a process that required a century. The modern history of this dessert bread began there on October 30, 1894, when Domenico Melegatti obtained a patent for a procedure to be applied in producing Template:Lang industrially. Domenico Melegatti formed a Template:Lang company in 1894,<ref name="snackandbakery/114031"/> Template:Ill, which was declared bankrupt 29 May 2018,<ref name="ESMm/60444">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="ansa/melegatti-bust">Template:Cite news</ref> despite a Maltese equity fund funded Christmas 2017 direct-to-retail campaign.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The feuding Ronca (70%) and Turco (30%) families from the Verona area, brought Template:Ill to crisis.<ref name="corriere/melegatti-halts">Template:Cite news</ref> In 2018, the Spezzapria family bought the company assets of Melegatti 1894 S.p.A. from bankruptcy trustees for €13.5m, as the only bidder in the second auction, the first auction ended with no bidders.<ref name="ESMm/65526">Template:Cite news</ref> In 2025, the assets of Melegatti 1894 S.p.A. were acquired by Irish Valeo Foods, a Bain Capital company.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="snackandbakery/114031">Template:Cite news</ref>