Share Panettone on Saint Blaise Day to Wish for Health / 🇮🇹 Italy

A slice of panettone in February brings a familiar festive taste back to the table. In Milan and parts of Lombardy, people have eaten the bread on Saint Blaise Day while wishing for well-being, with a traditional association between the saint and the throat. The gesture can be as simple as sharing breakfast and thinking of the people whose health you wish to celebrate. You can prepare a fresh loaf or use a safely stored portion. Cut enough for the people at the table, and let each person name someone they would like to keep in mind that morning.

1. Choose a panettone that is fit to eat. If using a portion kept from the holidays, follow the storage and date guidance on its packaging.
2. On 3 February, cut slices and put them on small plates. Notice the fruit and the texture of the bread as you cut it. A warm drink can make this a moment to sit down together.
3. Offer a slice to anyone joining you. Before eating, say or think a short wish for the well-being of someone in the household.
4. If the person you have in mind is far away, leave them a short message after breakfast. Give the wish a name or a small detail about the day. On another morning, the same plate can remind you to check in with that person.

Panettone is Milan’s Christmas bread. For Saint Blaise’s Day, families would save some of the festive loaf and set it out again at breakfast in February. In the local tradition the saint is associated with the throat, so a piece of bread at breakfast carries a particular meaning on that date. The custom also explains why a food many people associate with December appears again after the holidays. Bringing it to the table once more connects the winter celebrations with a quiet morning at home.

Put the bread on a plate where everyone can see the cut before passing the slices.