There are two Italian products that spell party – Panettone and Prosecco. Put them together and you have found the right ingredients to ensure you will have a very Merry Christmas.
This festive season if you are looking for the best panettone to delight your senses, you just can’t go past Salzano’s Delicatessan at 73 Doncaster Road at the North Balwyn Village. This delicatessen transforms into the Home of Panettone each year. There is a panettone for every taste, for every desire, for every table and family this Christmas. So much so that even MasterChef judge Jock Zonfrillo ventured to Salzano’s Delicatessen to buy the very best of Italy’s Christmas cakes.
Salzano’s Delicatessen Ana Salzano takes pride in selecting only the very best quality panettone from every region in Italy. “A great quality panettone will be the centre piece of any table. Add a glass of prosecco and let the festa begin,” Ana Salzano says.
Ask Ana what makes for the best panettone and she will tell you it’s the butter, it’s the mother yeast and it’s the mountain air.
When you step inside Salzano’s Delicatessen this festive season, the colour and vitality of all of Italy’s best produce greet you immediately. It’s not only the colours of the magnificently wrapped panettone and hampers that stir the senses, but add to this the selection of produce, ready-made meals, aromas of fresh coffee and cakes and your palate goes into overdrive.
That’s just where the adventure begins. It is further refined with Ana and her team making sure they greet you with all that Italian warmth one expects from a vibrant Italian family … add all this together and you have an eastern suburbs’ gem of a shop that is a must visit this festive season.
The display fridge housing all the fresh hams, cured meats, cheeses and specialty goods, takes up the entire length of the shop. If you weren’t hungry before you stepped inside, you will be after a few minutes looking at all the food offerings.
Ana Salzano provides some insights into what is hot and what’s popular for this year’s Christmas table.
“The Christmas bible is always the grazing board. We are finding we’re catering for groups of 10 to 100 this festive season. Our imported cheeses, the famous San Daniele prosciutto, dips and lots of colourful accompaniments are created into a work of art for the Christmas grazing boards. We love adding that decorative Christmas feel and look.
“Other favourites are always our trays of lasagna and meatballs.
“Also you just can’t go past the Grandmother ham which people are buying either sliced or as a full leg or half leg of ham.”
Salzano’s Delicatessen, by the very nature of its name and Italian owner, brings the best of Italy to Melbourne, but Ana also knows a good Christmas cake when she sees and tastes one. She has sourced Christmas cakes from the Adelaide Hills which are a gourmet delight.
Ana knows her local community and what Melburnians want to savour. She grew up in North Balwyn and continues to live close by with her family.
“It’s truly a privilege to be a part of this great community in Melbourne’s inner eastern suburbs. The community here has been very loyal to us and we want to ensure we continue to bring the best of food and experiences to everyone’s palates to enjoy every day, every celebration and every special occasion, with something we make and deliver with love,” Ana Salzano says.
Salzano’s Delicatessen together with OxygeneIP, Fletchers North Balwyn and Signorelli’s Fruit and Vegetable Shop and the North Balwyn Village Traders Association are sponsoring the North Balwyn Village Christmas Giveaway – 20 x $100 gift vouchers which will be won by 20 lucky people who just want to love and follow the North Balwyn Village. Make sure you register here to win one of these great prizes: https://balwynnorthvillage.com.au/merrychristmas2022/