Ciao a tutti! A lot of you have recently asked me what do Italian eat at Christmas? It depends where you live in Italy, it depends upon your family traditions, on whether you’re a vegetarian or not. It also depends on how religious you are.
The essence of Christmas Day for all Italians is family and food, “la famiglia e il cibo”. However, in Italy there are twenty regions with twenty different traditions to celebrate Christmas, sometimes similar, sometimes very different.
Normally on Christmas eve we eat Fish. No meat please!
According to Italian tradition, the meal for Christmas Eve, we call it “La Vigilia“, doesn’t have any meat. It’s all fish and vegetables. That’s in keeping with most meals served on the eve before a religious festival in Italy: You’re supposed to have a giorno di magro, eating lean to help purify your body for the holiday. We finish our Christmas eve meal with fruit, as a sign of good fortune. After dinner, some attend midnight mass at the local church.
One traditional Christmas Eve dish is capitone (eel), although it’s becoming less and less popular. These days, more common fish include baccalà, octopus, and shellfish. In Rome, a favorite local dish is the pezzetti, which are fried cubes of ricotta or pieces of artichokes, courgettes, or broccoli; in Naples, a starter would be seafood based.
Christmas day – lunch with family and friends
In my region of Piedmont a plate of ravioli is a popular choice on Christmas day. I remember going with my mum to pick a tray of freshly baked pasta from one of the best pastificio (fresh pasta shop) called Pastificio DeFilippis which opened in my hometown of Turin – Torino in 1872
Lunch is the main meal. Pasta in brodo—pasta in chicken soup—is a common kickoff to the meal across Italy especially in Northern Italy.
A roast chicken, turkey or lamb with lovely roasted vegetables are the choice of “secondi” and loads of wonderful vegetarian dishes. Italian food is mostly vegetarian: aubergines, potatoes, swiss chards and other local green vegetables that sadly I can’t find in the shops in Britain. The difference between Italian Christmas meal and the British one is that everybody helps with the cooking. Nobody cooks a Turkey that feeds hundreds..
And if you’re invited to Calabria on Christmas Day, don’t be surprised if the table stays set even after everyone’s finished eating and left. Traditionally, the dishes are left because they’re waiting for the Madonna and the baby Jesus to come… to taste the food!
What about Dessert? Well you’ve guessed it: Panettone or Pandoro. Other desserts include cavallucci, horse shaped biscuits (from, of course, Siena); dita degli apostoli (“fingers of the apostles”), chocolate- or coffee-flavored ricotta-filled omelettes, a Puglian tradition; and mostaccioli, spiced nut pastries devoured up by Romans. We like to drink Spumante with our desserts.
And if you got room..try a piece of Torrone di Cremona.
Torrone di Cremona is a traditional nougat that can be found in many regions throughout Italy. The word torrone is definitely of Latin origin and comes from “torrere”, meaning to toast. Torrone is made with toasted almonds, honey and other ingredients including egg whites.
Since the 16th century, torrone has been a traditional product of the city of Cremona in Lombardy. It was considered a valuable treat and was often purchased by influential townspeople who would give it as gifts during the Christmas season.
Torrone is also considered to be a specialty of Cremona because some say that its name refers to Torrazzo, the most famous tower in the city. And to celebrate the wedding for Francesco Sforza to Bianca Maria Visconti, the court’s pastry chefs worked together to make a tower-like torrone. In the 16th century, torrone was made and sold by local apothecaries, whereas in the 19th and 20th centuries torrone was made by pastry chefs and candy makers.
Buon Natale! Merry Christmas!
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About Learn Italian Manchester: My name is Amedea and I’m a native Italian tutor with a real passion for my language. I run Italian classes in Manchester which are sociable, fun and designed to teach you Italian you will really use. As well as Italian courses in Manchester I teach 1 to 1 Italian lessons and cover areas including Manchester City Centre,Didsbury, Chorlton, Sale, Altrincham, Hale, Woodford, Bramhall and others. I also run Italian cookery classes: fresh pasta, Italian vegetarian food, cookery classes for busy people, Italian style cocktail masterclasses and more. If you would like to do something new, learn to speak Italian and make new friends along the way! Contact me at: hello@learnitalianmanchester.