Italian New Year's Eve - 午夜福利7000

Have an Italian New Year’s Eve

You may have noticed I do tend to rumble about my family quite a lot when I begin writing: it is because I am a dreamer by nature, and like reminiscing quite a lot. I am also pretty lucky, in the sense I had a very much ideal childhood, which left me with plenty of amazing memories to share, and two grandmothers who cooked divinely, which means I have a lot of kitchen related anedoctes to tell.

Believe it or not, though, when it comes to New Year’s Eve, I’m lost:听New Year’s Eve 听is one of those celebrations you start caring about when you’re a teenager, because it’s a night where you’re allowed to stay out for longer with your mates and, let’s face it, who gives a damn about food and dinner when you’re 16 and experiencing freedom for the first time? My teenage听Capodanni (New Years Eve)听where organized at whichever friends’ whose parents were away for the holidays, food was whatever the deli counter at the supermarket had, plus some tortellini from the freezer and a pandoro, all watered with rivers of the cheapest spumante our pocket money could allow us to buy.

As a kid, I remember spending听Capodanno听with my family, but neither my grandparents nor my parents were big into organizing parties: we would eat a nice meal, then very likely watch one of the听Capodanno听tv specials on the telly until midnight, when a nice pandoro would be cut and eaten, a glass of soda for me, one of spumante for the rest of the family. I have memories of my parents having friends over, at times, but it was all very quiet and relaxed.

Our听Capodanno’s听dinner was usually a (delicious) carbon copy of what we had for Christmas: homemade starters and cappelletti in brodo,听听or hen with very, very creamy mash potatoes and a lot of homemade sauces, nuts and dried fruit,听and pandoro听instead of panettone for dessert. As you can see, even if听Capodanno听was usually a subdued affair compared to Christmas, there was still听plenty of food to get through to keep us going until midnight.

In truth, Christmas is a much more traditional moment than Capodanno,听even in the kitchen: it is, in the end, so also when it comes to the way we celebrate. Christmas is a strictly familiar holiday, a quintessential moment of unity of each and every family, who gathers around gargantuan meals and catch up with relatives.听Capodanno, on the other hand, is often spent with friends, eating out is more usual (only a small percentage of Italians would eat out at Christmas, whereas a听cenone di Capodanno听at the restaurant is a normal occurence everywhere in Italy) and, when it comes to food,听tradition mixes up with experimentation and innovation, something you’d be push to find on a Christmas table.

If it’s听certainly true that the听cenone听is a pretty big deal in the country, and that there are traditional dishes you pretty much find on every table, the essence itself of the celebration, and the fact it’s less family-oriented than Christmas, leaves in a way more space to introduce new flavors and ideas to it. Some make the zampone e lenticchie a听pi猫ce de r茅sistance of their New Year’s Eve dinner, others prefer to serve it rigorously at midnight, as tradition wants.

So, what really gets on Italian tables on the 31^st听of December? What do we cook and what do we drink? Read on to find out!

What’s Traditional New Year’s Eve for (almost) All

So, what are you more likely to find on an Italian table on New Year’s Eve? Well, often, it’s a bit of a “surf and turf” affair, as fish and meat both play a pretty important role in it. Fish is often a favorite for starters, and meat rules sovereign as a main, served after a pasta dish of, usually, cappelletti, ravioli or lasagne. When it comes to dessert,听Capodanno听plays second fiddle to Christmas, as we usually have panettone and pandoro again. However, it is common to serve them with homemade fillings of various sort, such as mascarpone cream,听crema pasticcera,听chocolate ganache or听zabajone听(one of my best friends makes a听pandoro farcito听to die for… I may leave you the recipe…).

When it comes to听zampone e lenticchie,听some like to serve it together, the latter as a side to the former, both accompanied by mashed potatoes. Others like to “deconstruct” the dish a bit and serve a lentil soup and the听zampone听on its own with mash. Once again, as听Capodanno听leaves you free to experiment in the kitchen a bit more than Christmas, it’s really up to you. Personally, I rather have them together with mash potatoes, and have a nice plate of cappelletti in brodo as a pasta dish.

Of course, as we said, if you really want to follow the whole lentil-ritual, you should serve them and the trotter at midnight听after听the听cenone. This may seem a lot to take into your stomach, but if you consider that celebrations go on well into the early hours of the morning and that good wine and spumante flow freely, an extra serving of food late at night is not such a bad idea. A couple of years ago I went to a house party at a friend’s place and we didn’t simply have听cenone听and听zampone e lenticchie听at midnight, we even ended up making spaghetti aglio, olio e peperoncino听(spaghetti with garlic, olive oil and chilli)听at 4 in the morning. So, yeah. Not that unusual and certainly not the worst it can happen to your stomach on New Year’s Eve.

Starters, as we said, are often fish based: prawn cocktail and smoked salmon are very common. However, if you want to eat your smoked salmon as we do in Italy, you should forget the butter and, rather, lay the sliced salmon on a large plate and drizzle it with extra virgin olive oil, fresh lemon juice and a sprinkle of pepper. We usually eat toasted bread with it.听Capesante,听which is Italian for scallops, are often served on New Year’s Eve as a starter and they’re pretty delicious, especially when served with the right sauce. As already mentioned, our听primo di Capodanno听is usually based on filled pasta, just as it happens at Christmas in large part of Italy:听cappelletti听or raviolini听in brodo,听ravioli听with rag霉 sauce or with butter and sage, if you are from the north. Fresh听tagliatelle听or baked lasagne, are also听popular options.

When it comes to drinking,听Capodanno听is the night of听Spumante.听In Italy, forget about champagne: when it comes to food and football, we get pretty damn patriotic, so leave champagne to beautiful France,听get down to the store,听get yourself some Spumante d’Asti DOC听and cheer the new year in true Italian fashion.

Down to work!

Some New Year’s Eve–oriented recipes

So, what about some recipes to get yourself busy in the kitchen and gain some well-deserved praise from your guests? We’ll听begin听with a couple of starters, then pass on to the ubiquitous听zampone and lenticchie听and, lo and behold! I will share with you my friend Antonio amazing recipe for听pandoro farcito.听I will also add a recipe for听zabajone,听an egg and marsala based cream, delicious hot and cold, which goes amazingly well with both pandoro听and听panettone.听Ok, get yourself pen and paper,听make your shopping list while you read and get ready to cook!

Capesante alla Mornay, (Mornay-style scallops)

This recipe yelds four servings, so multiply accordingly if you have more guests.

And this is it: a list of gourmet ideas to enjoy New Year’s Eve Italian style. As usual, let us know if you try any of the recipes and tell us about your results: we are curious to hear from you all and your culinary experiences.

In the meanwhile, as听Capodanno听is nearing, we at听lifeinitaly听take the opportunity to wish you the best, most fun new year’s of always.

Buon Anno a tutti!

听