When people think about Christmas all over the world, different things come to mind: Santa Claus, the birth of Jesus Christ, lights and Christmas trees. In Italy certainly Christmas is all this but if you want to know all the traditions of Christmas in the Italian regions continue reading this article.
For Christmas in the Italian regions we find everywhere Christmas markets, shows and entertainment, concerts and religious events.
Being Italy a predominantly Catholic country, midnight Mass is very important, where people go to celebrate the birth of the Child Jesus.
In all the houses the Christmas Tree is made and, combining the tradition of Northern Europe with the more typically Catholic, also the Crib. The Magi arrive in the Nativity on January 6 to bring presents to baby Jesus.
On the evening of January 5th the children put a sock on the fireplace (or near the window) because at night the Befana, on her flying broom, arrives to fill her stockings with sweets and gifts for good children and coal (often with sugar) for those who have been less good.
Although recently some families make a Christmas dinner, the most important meal that brings together the whole family is the lunch on December 25th. It is a rich and generally long lunch.
For this reason, in the tradition, the 24th is a lean day, that is, we don't eat meat but generally fish, vegetables and legumes.
The tradition of the Crib is still very much alive in many regions especially in the South and in the mountain areas but a little in all of Italy from 8 December to 6 January it is possible to go to the open churches to see very large and sometimes animated Nativity scenes.
In Italy, unlike in other countries of the world, it is also a celebration on December 26th, St. Stephen's Day.
But every Italian region and every country has its own traditions. These traditions are then exported by Italian immigrants all over the world, creating new traditions from old ones to new countries. This month we want to tell you about the beautiful variety of traditions that exists at Christmas in the Italian regions. If you want to know Christmas in the Italian regions take this journey with us in the Italian Christmas traditions region by region starting from the northern regions and descending towards the south. If you are of Italian descent, perhaps you will recognize some of these historical traditions and you will have a better idea of what the region of your family is.
Christmas in the northern Italian regions of the
Valle d'Aosta:
in the northern regions the Christmas holidays are always linked to markets and lights to defeat the darkness of winter nights; in Valle d'Aosta there is no lack of markets, religious events, animations and concerts, living nativity scenes and midnight mass.
Typical dishes:
Crostini with honey and mocetta (dried cow, sheep or goat meat salami, flavored with mountain herbs, juniper and garlic)
Lard with cooked and caramelized chestnuts
Crostini with fondue and truffle
Sausage with potatoes
Valdostan carbonate with polenta (strips) of meat macerated in red wine with aromas)
Lombardy: Panettone, markets, the famous city of Livigno, skiing, candles on the windows and at the table and Christmas music.
Typical dishes:
Stuffed pasta (ravioli or tortellini) is the first traditional dish: lean (ie without meat) for Christmas Eve; for Christmas lunch instead it is served with meat filling and a very rich sauce.
Tortellini in broth
Stuffed capon (with minced eggs, granapadano and mortadella)
Skewers of chicken and veal with salad
As a dessert you cannot miss the panettone that was invented in Milan Christmas in the northern Italian regions: the panettone
Trentino Alto Adige: the cities fill with so many lights and markets in the alpine tradition, Advent calendar, December 6 celebrates the visit of Sankt Nikolaus (the Central European version of the English and American Santa Claus) to bring sweets and gifts to good children, torchlight hikes on the slopes skiing, in the city resounds Christmas Music
Typical dishes:
Canederli (stale bread balls, speck, bacon and salami, flour, eggs, milk and broth. Dressed with spinach or porcini mushrooms)
Strangolapreti (bread dumplings, milk, eggs and leaves) chard, seasoned with butter, sage and parmesan
Baked kid withpotatoes
CheeseStrüdel
Friuli Venezia Giulia: markets, nativity scenes, San Nicolò Fair on December 6, mulled wine and caramel apples late
Typical dishes:
Brovada and muset (turnip, cotechino and polenta soup)
Tripe with sauce andcheese
sweet: the Gubana (mixture of walnuts, almonds, raisins, honey, wine and rum, wrapped in fragrant pastry and castagnole)
Veneto: Markets and celebrations for Saint Lucia. In Italy, before the arrival of the tradition of the US Santa Claus (the one with the red dress) it was this saint who brought presents to children on December 13th. Saint Lucia represents light and in fact was represented with a candle in hand as a symbol of light that crosses the dark days of winter.
Typical dishes:
Ravioli in capon broth
sopressa with polenta
GrilledCapon boiled meat (the same with which they made the broth) with mashed potatoes andred radicchio salad
Pandoro, sweet invented in the city of Verona and which, together with panettone has become one of the symbols of Italian Christmas
Wine: Recioto
Emilia Romagna: the Christmas tree and the crib; the wise men arrive on January 6 to bring sweets and gifts. Street markets in every city.
Typical dishes:
Tortellini (stuffed with Parma ham or Bologna mortadella, pamigiano reggiano, pork and eggs) in cappon broth
In this region we don't mess around with cured meats; there will be plenty of chopping boards of Parma ham and Bologna mortadellaon the Christmas table
Bollito mixed: capon, beef, cotechino from Modena, with mashed beans and mustard. The Emilia mustard, whose recipe varies from city to city, should not be confused with French mustard; in fact it is a preparation of candied fruit with a sweet and spicy taste at the same time that goes well with boiled meat. The Bolognese version, which is sweeter, is also used to make Christmas cakes.
Panone di Natale or Pinza Natalizia: a dessert made from flour, apple mustard, honey, cocoa, dark chocolate and dried figs
Piedmont: Piedmont is a region with a strong tradition of raising cows and sheep and celebrates Christmas her shepherds making them protagonists of the cribs. The shepherds' feast is very famous: in the night the shepherds go to the church where they will bring offerings to the baby Jesus. Usually in these manifestations the sacred is mixed with satire, the protagonists make jokes and jokes about contemporary reality. Mistletoe grows naturally in this area and is used to decorate houses: usually it hangs on door jambs or at the top; Tradition has it that it is good luck to kiss under a sprig of mistletoe.
Typical dishes:
Agnolotti al Plin with roast sauce
Raw meat salad
Peppers in bagna cauda. Bagna cauda is a typical Piedmontese preparation: an oil flavored with anchovies and a lot of garlic; it is brought to the table very hot and is kept warm with a flame underneath. Raw food, in this case peppers, but also meat or other vegetables, are cooked in pieces by dipping them in oil directly on the table.
Anchovies with green
Leek pie with
eggnog. Obviously hazelnuts cannot be missing, as they are a typical product of this region.
Liguria: Liguria has a strong wine-making tradition and keeps alive the stock of the Christmas tradition by wetting a wooden log with new wine and then burning the strain to spread a good smoky smell in homes and streets. This still happens in the individual houses but above all in the markets and during the live nativity scenes. There are Christmas concerts in the streets. In the municipalities near the sea there are processions in the water in which a group of divers take a statue of the Child Jesus from the sea; fireworks and light shows. On January 6 every year in the city of Genoa the new year is greeted with the Cimento: an off-season swim in the sea; come out of the water warm up with a nice glass of mulled wine
Typical dishes:
Maccheroni in brodo (stuffed with veal, lamb, eggs, herbs, breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese
Boiled capon
Sausages and spinach
Bakedwith artichokes
guinea-fowlThe Genoese pandolce that is a sort of panettone less leavened and with less butter but richer in candied fruit and dried fruit
Christmas in the Italian regions of Central
Tuscany: Tuscany has a strong city identity and, in fact, it is in its cities and its villages that Tuscany becomes beautiful during the Christmas period: it is filled with lights, decorations, historical re-enactments, living cribs and markets that recall the medieval history of Tuscany, some of these traditions are lost in the mists of time and have an unmissable age-old charm. of Abbadia San Salvatore, on the slopes of Monte Amiata, the City of torches is celebrated: a ritual in which numerous stacks of wood are set on fire along the streets of the village. Also on December 24 starting from the Borgo of Monteriggioni you can take a night walk, lit by torches, on the Via Francigena. Pisa has its tradition in the luminaries and fireworks: like every year the main streets of the city, Corso Italia and Borgo Largo are filled with suggestive illuminations under which the Christmas markets wind. Particularly interesting is the historic Christmas market which is located under the Logge dei Banche where numerous local artisans and artists gather to sell their original productions. Then, on New Year's Eve, the fireworks display on the Arno river is a must; those who know the city of Pisa know that our fireworks shows are among the largest and most evocative in the world. In terms of fireworks and new year, perhaps many of you do not know that Pisa celebrates New Year twice a year: an "official" New Year (December 31) and a "citizen" New Year known as the Pisan New Year that takes place in June; during this second New Year, Pisa celebrates its birth with its biggest fireworks display.
Typical dishes:
Crostini di livers
Truffle appetizers
Capon broth or cappelletti in broth
Guinea fowl roast
Cavallucci, panforte and ricciarelli
Marche: markets, traditions not contaminated by the frenetic rhythms of the metropolis. In this region, as well as in Abruzzo, it is still not uncommon to encounter bagpipers playing in the streets.
Typical dishes:
Cappelletti inbroth
Vincigrassi(a very rich dish: ground beef, sausage, chopped chicken offal, dried ham with bay leaves and herbs and addition of porcini mushrooms served with a glass of white wine)
Roasted truffle capon
Christmas pizza ( bread dough with dried fruit, raisins, powdered chocolate, grated lemon and orange, figs and sugar)
Abruzzo: Bonfire in the square on Christmas Eve and here we find the tradition of the Christmas stock. Torchlight processions on the ski slopes. As we have already mentioned for the Marche, the tradition of bagpipers (men dressed as shepherds who play the bagpipe) is still strongly alive in these regions.
Typical dishes:
Rintrocilio (pasta with mutton sauce, pork, red pepper and grated pecorino)
Tachinella in broth (seasoned with pepper, juniper berries, fennel, rosemary, bay leaves, sage, thyme, mint and marjoram)
Panzerotti sweet stuffed and fried
Umbria : The birthplace of Saint Francis, the inventor of the crib, so in this region there are nativity scenes of natural height. Given the abundance and importance of the churches in this region, many Umbrian people consider it a Christmas tradition to visit the most important churches in the area and obviously stop to look at the nativity scenes.
Typical dishes:
Cappelletti stuffed with capon and pigeon
Boiled capon
Pinoccate (sort of soft biscuits without flour made of sugar and pine nuts; traditionally diamond-shaped)
Lazio: being the region where there is the capital you can expect extraordinary events: big concerts Christmas, cultural events in exhibitions and museums, fireworks, and many Christmas markets. And let's not forget the Epiphany, which is very much felt in this region. Lazio also has a strong pastoral tradition so even in this region it is possible to find pipers and traditions that recall the importance of shepherds in the crib.
Typical dishes:
Bruschetta
Cod fish fillets and fried broccoli Potato
soup with broccoli and clams
Stuffed turkey with chestnuts and sausage
Fried artichokes
Christmas in the Italian regions of South
Molise: Novena is celebrated here, meaning a religious ritual that lasts nine days. On the night of the 24th they make a show typical of the area performed by the pipers. Retracing the steps of a semi-ancestral past, the "actors" wear the typical rural costumes of the last century, parade through the city streets carrying bundles of fire, creating suggestive compositions and dances.
Typical dishes:
Cardoid soup
Franz's pizza in hot broth (small pieces of pizza made with grated Parmesan cheese and baked parsley)
Maccarun ch'i hiucc (macaroni with cauliflower, almonds and stale breadcrumbs)
Baccalà arracanato (breadcrumbs) garlic parsley oregano raisins pine nuts and walnuts)
Puglia: Also here is the custom of building cribs at home based on traditional canons. There is in everyone's memory a "kitchen calendar": a calendar, almost a diary, on which typical dishes are ideally marked according to the anniversary. So, thinking of Christmas, "lu fucazieddu", "li carteddate" and the "sannacchiutele" immediately come to mind.Stockfish
Typical dishes:
Baked lasagna
stewed with lampascioni (sort of bitterish onions in the wild)
Focaccia pugliese
Lamb and grilled sausage with turnip tops
Desserts: carteddate (rose-shaped pancakes garnished with honey or must) and porcedduzzi (gnocchetti arranged in a pyramid with honey and colored sugars)
Campania: In Naples and throughout Campania there is no shortage certainly the nativity scenes, the bagpipes and the Christmas markets, traditions that came from the north but enrich and make the Christmas bells even more magical. In particular, the craft tradition of the crib has become a school: in the popular neighborhood of Naples called "spacccanapoli" there is a real street of the cribs where you can admire, and buy real masterpieces. The peculiarity of the Campania nativity scene is that it unites the sacred with the profane; in fact it is possible to find Italian politicians, or the president of the United States together with pop culture figures such as Antonino Cannavacciuolo, in these wonderful nativity scenes next to the child Jesus, the ox and the donkey. Unmissable in the Maradona Neapolitan cribs. This region has so many unique traditions that you can only find here: think of the Neapolitan tombola; to the card game "mercante in fiera" or to the octopus soup that the Neapolitans traditionally drink on New Year's Eve.
Typical dishes:
Spaghetti with clams
Totani and potatoes
Padded
cap Reinforced salad (cauliflower, mixed pickles, peppers called papacelle olives from Gaeta and salted anchovies) accompanied by the inevitable friselle (circular toast of very dry bread, to be moistened with water, vinegar and tomatoes ) and broccoli with garlic and chilli;
Capitone (this is the real king of the festivals: a large black eel that, according to tradition, should be bought alive and cooked at home)
Struffoli, Roccocò and dried fruit.
Basilicata: the basilicata has a long tradition linked to the crib, both as a living crib and as a handcrafted reproduction of the nativity scene. The main characteristic of this region is the spiciness and of course also in the Christmas holidays spicy food is very present.
Typical dishes:
Escarole soup, cabbage and thistles (cooked in turkey broth and salama with addition of grated cheese and pieces)
Codfish boiled with bran peppers. Cruschi peppers are a wonderful food that can be found only in this region: long and thin red peppers dried in the sun and dropped for a few seconds in boiling olive oil.
Strascinati with mixed meat ragu (homemade pasta called this way because you crawl with your fingers)
Piccilatiedd: bread with almonds;
Pettole: fried leavened dough with anchovies
Calabria: in Calabria Natale means fried; during the period before Christmas throughout the Calabrian territory you can find different types of sweets and fried cakes, obviously every country has its variants. In the Albanian community of San Demetrio Corone, in the province of Cosenza, sweets made of flour, eggs, sugar and honey are prepared; obviously fried. A Calabrian tradition for this period is to decorate the doors of the house with crosses made of bread dough.
Typical dishes:
Soup in capon broth
Pasta china (lasagne or large macaroni striped baked stuffed with veal meatballs, spicy salami, sweet provola, caciocavallo and pecorino cheese)
Stockfish with 'ghiotta (oil sauce, onion, tomatoes, olives, capers and raisins)
Capretto and Vrùocculi nìvuri ammullicàti (broccoli seasoned with black pepper, bay leaves, garlic and breadcrumbs)
Sicily: The musical traditions connected with the celebration of Christmas have remained particularly vital in Sicily. The afternoon of the feast days, after the lavish lunch, it is spent in family playing cards, above all traditional games like Beast (a variant of briscola, in which it is usually played for money) or Baccarat and bingo and eating nuts, one of the true Sicilian specialties, to no end. The Sicilian identity is historically very varied, so often the same recipes have local variations, but the goodness of the dish is always guaranteed.
Typical dishes:
Chicken broth;
Baked anellini pie with ricotta;
Pasta with sardines;
Sardinian a beccafico (stuffed with breadcrumbs, pine nuts, orange peel, bay leaves and raisins);
Herring and orange salad;
Meat with pancetta coppata with side dishes of sparaceddi and caponata;
meat desserts (finely chopped veal, toasted almonds, dark chocolate, cinnamon and egg)
whitesMustazzoli (biscuits made with almonds, cinnamon and cloves);
And with Sicily we ended Christmas in the Italian regions; we hope you enjoyed this trip region by region and if you have found some tradition of your family, or if you have others to add, let us know.
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