For some unknown reason, we’d always end up on Via Santa Redegonda to eat a panzerotto from Panzerotti Luini, a Milan institution which has been around for 80 years.
Panzerotti – fried savoury turnovers – are the most famous Apulian street food and must strictly be eaten on the go.
They are served piping hot and burning your mouth is almost inevitable, especially upon the first bite when the tasty filling oozes out.
There is a particular, well-tested technique to eating them: with your legs spread apart and leaning forward to prevent the mozzarella from dripping onto your shoes.
Apparently Luini’s panzerotti are no longer what they once were and today in Milan – which offers an abundance of excellent Apulian cuisine – the best panzerotti are served at Il Panzerotto in Via Spontini, a few metres from the homonymous pizzeria that takes me back to other memories of my youth.
Donnaloia migrated to Australia from the Apulian town of Pezze di Greco with his parents and two brothers around 10 years ago.
It was more of a return than an arrival for his mother, Margherita, as she was born here after her parents had migrated to the South Australian city of Port Pirie in the 1950s.
“We moved to Australia because we were looking for new opportunities but we didn’t find them,” Donnaloia said in an interview with Rete Italia.
“After six months, we returned to Italy; the language barrier was challenging and we didn’t know anyone.”
Despite having studied IT, Donnaloia continued to work in hotels and on his grandparents’ farm, before the family decided to give their Australian adventure another go.
“The second time went much better, because we only stayed in Port Pirie for the time it took to orient ourselves, then we moved to Adelaide where we all studied English – even mum and dad – and where we found work, mainly in the hospitality industry, thanks to friends and acquaintances in the Italian community.”
Soon after, one of Donnaloia’s brothers moved to Melbourne for work, convincing the rest of the family to join him.
Melbourne has long been crowned the food capital of Australia and is home to some of the best Italian restaurants in the country, which celebrate Italy’s different regional cuisines.
But Donnaloia felt that the flavours and aromas of Puglia were missing.
“We’re proud of our healthy and authentic cuisine,” he said.
“I wondered why there was Emilian, Tuscan, Sicilian and Sardinian cuisine, but not Apulian.”
A few years later, Donnaloia travelled to Italy for a holiday and his family organised a party to celebrate his return.
Among the guests was his father’s cousin, who had started a catering company which served panzerotti.
In that instant, Donnaloia had a lightbulb moment: he could bring the most classic Apulian street food to Melbourne.
“In Puglia, everyone makes panzerotti; it’s the snack that your mum prepares for you when your friends come over to study or play at your house because it’s quick,” he said.
“But opening a panzerotteria in Melbourne would’ve been a big task; I put the idea aside for a while, but I never completely abandoned it because I was determined to introduce Apulian cuisine in Australia.
“One day, a friend told me about farmers’ markets, weekly markets where various types of food are sold from stalls or food trucks; after visiting some of them I was convinced that the idea was feasible.”
Thus was born Il Panzerotto – Taste of Puglia, which brings the delectable Apulian street food to farmers’ markets, festivals and functions around Victoria.
The Donnaloia family and staff members of Il Panzerotto – Taste of Puglia
While panzerotti are sometimes mistaken for calzoni, the major difference is that they are fried, not baked.
The dough is made with water, flour, extra virgin olive oil, salt and a pinch of sugar.
It is worked or kneaded and left to rise, then rolled out into discs and stuffed with the filling – tomato and mozzarella is the classic version, but there are many alternatives.
The discs are then folded into a crescent shape, letting the air escape and preventing the panzerotti from exploding when immersed in boiling oil.
Panzerotti should be eaten with your hands and enjoyed with a beer, perhaps a Raffo from the Apulian city of Taranto.
“If you haven’t burned your palate with the first irresistible bite, you’ve never eaten a real Apulian panzerotto,” Donnaloia said.
The panzerotti served by the Donnaloia family meet all the requirements: they have a traditional shape and are fried on the spot.
Various savoury and sweet fillings are available, while the dough is light enough that you will want to go back for seconds and thirds.
The prolonged lockdowns have not helped Donnaloia’s business, but they have not discouraged him either; on the contrary, they have pushed him to think outside the box.
With a diploma in hospitality management and the help of Margherita, who first taught him how to cook the perfect panzerotto, he launched a frozen line that you can order online and enjoy at home.
“They are smaller panzerotti than the traditional ones and are fried then frozen,” he said.
“They just have to be heated in the oven for about 10 minutes.”
Whether at home, or at a market, festival or function, Il Panzerotto - Taste of Puglia has finally given Puglia’s favourite street food a place in Australia.
