Panettone & Neighbors

It never occurred to me to google Panettone until a friend/reader mentioned the Italian roots of the traditional Christmas cake (thanks Donna).  I found a wealth of information on wikipedia about Panettone and how although it is native to Italy (also used mainly between Christmas and New Year's) it has taken a strong hold in Latin America, so much so that the Italian government is taking measures to protect its original heritage and recipe. 

Although I had never really thought about it, it really came as no surprise to me that Panettone has Italian roots.  We have a very large population of Italian heritage here in this part of Brazil.  Similar to the US, Brazil is a big melting pot.  Portuguese, Spanish, native peoples, folks from all over Europe escaping world wars, Africans brought originally as slaves, and the largest population of Japanese outside of Japan reside here in Brazil.  Here in southern Brazil our friends and neighbors are primarily of German and Italian heritage.  They were attracted here by the climate and landscape quite similar to their home countries, and settled this area as farmers and ranchers.  As a result, we have some very strong German and Italian influences.  We have great Italian restaurants, we have Oktoberfest, we have entire communities nearby where German is the main language spoken, and Portuguese is learned as a secondary, but necessary language. 

Needless to say, we don't really stand out here by looks alone.  Our children look right at home in their Brazilian classrooms.  It is far different from my experience living in Japan, where it was immediately obvious to anyone I met that I was a foreigner.  People here typically don't know we're not from here until we open our mouths and speak.