For anyone who grew up in the UK, Christmas lunch or dinner almost always involved roast turkey and all the traditional festive trimmings. It came as quite a surprise therefore to first discover that there is not really one Italian Christmas dish which is eaten all over the country. However, knowing Italy well and understanding how proud each region is of its traditional ingredients and recipes, it makes perfect sense that people celebrating Christmas in the Alps will not eat the same things as those celebrating in Calabria, in the toe of Italy. As we have three Tour Managers who grew up in different parts of Italy, we talked to each of them about their memories of Christmas food and their festive rituals.
Marta’s Christmas
“I grew up in Dolo, near Venice in the Veneto region. We more or less had the same Christmas menu each year, which was tortellini in chicken broth and lasagne with minced beef and chicken and oven roasted potatoes. For dessert we had pandoro and panettone cakes, with mascarpone and torrone (nougat). I think our menu was typical of the north of Italy. We would drink Prosecco to start with, and then red wine, and a sweet wine (spumante) with the dessert.
We always had (and still do) a Christmas tree that we decorate on the 8th of December and also a presepe which is a traditional nativity scene made from small figurines. Sometimes we would put Christmas ceramic vases or decorations around the house, and we used special Christmas mugs for breakfast from the 1st of Decemeber.
Nowadays we live in Palazzuolo sul Senio in Tuscany. My dad, since he became a Nonno, always dresses up as Santa Claus for his grandchildren. We write the Santa Claus letter which we leave under the tree on Christmas Eve with a glass of milk and biscuits, and then we open up our presents on Christmas morning.”
Cinzia’s Christmas
“When I was young, my parents were always incredibly busy in the hardware shop in Valtournenche, Valle d’Aosta. We never really had a fixed Christmas menu but I remember we always ate well, like two or three antipasti and a main, and probably some ravioli of some sort. We definitely had some panettone for dessert on Christmas Day, and perhaps even some days before as my dad adores it. Nowadays we have more time, so for starters we have insalata russa, anchovies in green sauce, cured meats, olives, smoked salmon and something hot like a puff pastry tart with seasonal vegetables. As a “primo” Piemontese Ravioli del Plin and maybe a beef roast cooked in barolo wine. Dessert will be panettone, of course!!
I believe the menu reflected our alpine region. Mocetta (cured and salted beef from Valle d’Aosta) and Fontina cheese were always present. I believe sometimes we had beef Bourguignon or Raclette cheese on the night of the 24th, as it was a festive dish which didn’t require a lot of time to prepare. As for the drinks we always enjoyed Prosecco di Valdobbiadene to start with and Moscato d’Asti DOCG to finish with the panettone.
We put garlands and baubles on the door jambs and we already had a synthetic (environmental friendly!) Christmas tree in the hallway which my cat enjoyed very much to tip over. We always opened our presents on the 24th of December at or just after midnight.”
Anthony’s Christmas
“My parents were from Calabria and, although I did not grow up there, we always returned for holidays and Christmas. I remember that the menu was usually very similar every year, and was mostly of regional dishes. We always had an antipasti, primo, main and lots of different sides to go with, and then dessert which was nearly always panettone. Some of the typical Calabrian dishes were eggplant Parmigiana, frittelle di zucchini (courgette fritters), Zeppole with anchovies (a kind of fried ball of pizza dough with an anchovy inside) and braciole di patate, which are like fried croquette potatoes. Sometimes we also had lasagne or gnocchi, and mainly pork or lamb as the main.
I remember that we drank local red wine and maybe Prosecco. My grandparents had a Christmas Tree and the traditional nativity scene and we always opened our presents on Christmas morning.”
