Fiasconaro

Castelbuono was one of the largest villages of the Madonie circuit, a winding road in the midst of a Sicilian national park which once set the track of the legendary Targa Florio race. As pastry chef Mario Fiasconaro opened a small ice cream shop in its main square in 1953, the medieval town also gained a reputation for his citrus “granite” made with local snow from the Madonie.

Mario’s children Fausto, Martino, and Nicola helped him in the trade and learned from him the ancient and slow art of harvesting “manna,” a natural sweetener extracted in the summer months from the bark of ash trees in the Madonie. One of them, Nicola, followed in his father’s footsteps as a talented pastry chef, and took the business beyond the island, as in the early 1990s he adopted “manna” and local ingredients (citrus, pistachio, and almonds) to reinvent the panettone (a Northern dessert of the Christmas tradition) in a Mediterranean key.

The Panettone di Sicilia became a global sensation over the last few decades, as also attested by the opening of the first Fiasconaro shop in New York in 2025, and the flavors of the Madonie give the business a unique Sicilian distinction (as confirmed by the collaboration with Dolce & Gabbana in the design of packaging), and a new twist to a beloved culinary tradition.

Fiasconaro’s story is one of loyalty and openness, grounded-ness and distinction, quality and creativity. A balanced edge which is key to understanding Italian innovation.

More on Fiasconaro at www.fiasconaro.com

More on the Targa Florio at bit.ly/innovatorsflorio

More on Sicilian business at bit.ly/innovators-sicilianwines