Pasticceria Giotto

Production begins at four in the morning. The master pastry chefs arrive first — five professionals who coordinate a team of around fifty artisans. They start with brioches, then the day organises itself around the panettone dough: a natural sourdough worked in several stages, enriched with selected butter, fresh eggs, quality candied fruits. The crumb must be pulling, golden, lightly caramelised on the surface. The vanilla and citrus fragrance must hold over time. For more than ten years, the Gambero Rosso has ranked this panettone in its national Top 10. The New York Times devoted an entire article to it.

This workshop is located inside the Due Palazzi prison in Padua. Since 2005, the cooperative Work Crossing has run a pastry workshop there where inmates learn a trade under the supervision of professional masters — not an occupational activity, real work with real standards. Production, packaging and logistics are managed entirely from within. Nothing is outsourced, nothing is simplified.

More than two hundred people have been trained since the workshop opened. The figure that perhaps says the most: the recidivism rate among former participants is around five per cent — compared to seventy-five per cent at the national level. This is not a miracle. It is what happens when work is real, demanding, and gives something to hold on to.