Let鈥檚 go so, and let鈥檚 begin with the region by many considered the cradle of Italian cuisine: la bella Emilia-Romagna.
In the first part of this article, I let my memories take over and told you a bit about my childhood Christmases and my grandparents. The recipes of the Northern regions of Italy are mostly familiar to me and so are those from Emilia-Romagna, which you will find below. Culinary tradition, though, begins to change once we get to Lazio and our trip takes us South: it will be a bit of a discovery for me, too.
A Christmas Italian Kitchen: the central regions
Emilia-Romagna
This is the region of filled pasta and salumi, known for the richness, in flavor, ingredients and associations, of its culinary tradition. Christmas is, of course, no exception to this rule. A variety of tortellini, a smaller version of cappelletti, is made for Christmas Eve and Christmas day. Usually, the Eve is a day of 鈥渕agro鈥� where meat is not听consumed, hence its tortellini are usually filled with ricotta and other types of cheeses. Things change dramatically, of course, on Christmas day, when people celebrate with rich, meaty tortellini in brodo di cappone (in a capon broth), filled with mortadella di Bologna, ham, Parmesan and eggs.
Keep in mind that听pretty much everywhere in Italy, as you may have noticed already while reading the first part of this article,听tortellini, cappelletti and ravioli 听are served in a broth at Christmas:听it is usually capon or hen broth. The听birds are then consumed as a meat dish, with sauces and seasonal vegetables. This happens in Emilia-Romagna, too, where boiled capon or hen is often served along with boiled cuts of beef or cotechino. This is also popular in Piemonte.
Tuscany
Ah! Tuscany! The not-so-secret dream location of a very large amount of people all over the world, it is a delight at Christmas time, too. Not only its beautiful towns become, if possible, even more charming, but the food鈥� oh, the food!鈥� is just the perfect completion to this fabulous time of the year. Tuscan people enjoy earthy starters such as crostini ai fegatini (roasted bread with fried livers) and truffle based antipasti, such as carpaccio al tartufo. Roasted capon is a popular meat dish, just as stuffed turkey is. A typical Tuscan stuffing is usually made with ham, roasted chestnuts, bread, cream, salt and pepper. Popular is also roasted guinea fowl.
Dessert is often a听delicious panforte听of Siena.
Marche
Le Marche鈥�s people rejoice on Christmas day before a delicious plate of cappelletti in brodo di cappone and a meat dish of roasted capon with truffles. Once again,听capon proves to be a favorite Italian Christmas meat, regardless of the region. Typical of Le Marche are the vincisgrassi, a Marchigian variation of lasagne, with added egg, prosciutto and mushrooms. A delicious pizza di Natale (yes, you read that right, a 鈥淐hristmas pizza鈥�) completes the feast: this is a heartwarming dessert, made of bread dough filled with candied fruit, nuts, figs and cocoa.
Abruzzo
In Abruzzo, tastes and traditions begin to change and turn more towards south. Gone is the capon and the tortellini, in are a delicate, yet flavorsome minestra di cardi, chard soup, made with white chard, chicken broth,听meat and eggs, 补苍诲听 the lu rintrocilio, homemade pasta with a tomato and mutton sauce. Meat is poultry, usually turkey in broth. Typical desserts are fried parcels of dough, filled with black grape jam and nuts, called calgionetti fritti.
Umbria
Historically, Umbria has a lot of to do with the traditional听idea of an Italian Christmas, as it was here, thanks to the will of St Francis, that the first presepe was created.听Umbria is also one of the best-known areas of Italy when it comes to food and culinary expertise, and its traditional Christmas dishes are no exception.
A favorite main pasta dish is, once again, cappelletti in brodo di cappone, often made with a capon filling, too. Capon is also consumed, boiled, as a meat dish, usually with a side of chard. Chard returns on the table of the 25th , just as in Abruzzo. Desserts are baked and heartwarmingly spicy: panpepato,听made with nuts, candied oranges, honey, dark chocolate, black peppers and sultanas,听pinoccate, a sugary, pinenuts-based type of cookies, and the torciglione, a sweet dough and almonds twisted bread, are听 traditionally consumed in Umbria during the Christmas festivities.
Lazio
滨苍听Lazio, fish plays an important part at Christmas: we begin to sense here the influence of more traditionally Mediterranean flavors and ingredients, often associated to the southern part of the country. It is usual to start a Christmas meal with听bruschette,听followed by a tasty soup of听arzilla, broccoli e听vongole,听听skate, broccoli听and clams. Main dishes are usually clams spaghetti or a broth made with听arzilla.听A common side dish are carciofi alla Romana, Roman style artichokes, made with Roman mint, olive oil and parsley.听Dessert can be a made with dried and candied fruit, mixed with flour, honey and chocolate.听笔补苍驳颈补濒濒辞听is a听presidio Slowfood.听
Molise
Molise is, to many, a little known area of Italy, but it is home to some magnificent Christmas traditions: did you know, for instance, that Italy has her own bagpipes players? Yes, indeed, and they come from Molise: they are called听zampognari听and their instruments are the听zampogne.听Do not compare them to Scottish bagpipe players, though.听窜补尘辫辞驳苍别听听and Scottish bagpipes are similar, but not the same at all, as they are constructed differently, in structure and materials.
But let’s go back to the kitchen: Molise’s Christmas table is filled with earthy flavors and rich ingredients:听zuppa di cardi听is a popular starter, just as it is in Abruzzo.听叠补肠肠补濒脿听(salted cod) is usually the chosen main, and is prepared in several guises:听baccal脿 arracanato, for instance, is made with garlic, parsley, bread innards, oregano, sultanas, pinenuts and walnuts, whereas the听baccal脿 al forno con verza听is made with savoy cabbage, parsley, bread innards and walnuts.听颁补濒肠颈耻苍颈听听are a popular dessert that mixes together plenty听of ingredients typical of this region: chestnuts, wine, honey, as well as rhum, eggs, vanilla and almonds.
An Italian Christmas kitchen: the South
Puglia
As mentioned while talking about Lazio, and seen in Molise, the more we head South, the more fish becomes central to Christmas cuisine. Puglia is no exception: baccal脿 is protagonist once again, this time stewed with听lambascioni,听听a wild variety of onion; popular is also lamb with sausage, served with听cime di rapa听(turnip greens), a typical ingredient in听pugliese cuisine.听Lasagne 听补苍诲听focaccia pugliese,听听a focaccia made with potatoes and flour, and topped听with cherry tomatoes and olives are common.听颁补谤迟别诲诲补迟别听补苍诲听porcedduzzi听complete a perfect听辫耻驳濒颈别蝉别听Christmas meal: the first are rose-shaped parcels of filo pastry, fried, then dipped in honey or grape (or fig) must. The second are little cubes of dough, deep fried, covered in honey, then placed together on a dish and covered in sprinkles.
Campania
Campania, the land of mozzarella di bufala and pizza,听of fragrant Amalfi lemons and, of course, of the beautiful,听charming Naples.听Campania, the land of 锄补尘辫辞驳苍别听补苍诲听presepi, of good food and tradition, hosts a glorious Christmas听when it comes to food, too. Spaghetti with clams and a rich soup made with chicory, egg and veal meat听in a capon broth are popular mains. Squid and potatoes and stuffed capon are served along with听insalata di rinforzo,听飞丑颈濒别听蝉迟谤耻蹿蹿辞濒颈听补苍诲听谤辞肠辞肠貌听are typically chosen to conclude the meal in sweetness. By the way, if you’d like to make struffoli, you can find the recipe by clicking on the link.
Basilicata
The land of the 2019 European听Capital of Culture, Matera,听is keen on fish as a main on听Christmas day: boiled baccal脿 with听peperoni cruschi,听sundried peppers, 听quickly dipped in hot olive oil, is usually anticipated by听strascinari al rag霉 di carne mista,听听a type of handmade pasta, with a rich meat sauce. On the table, also bread with almonds and deep fried sweet pastries calledcalzoncelli,听filled with chestnuts or chickpeas.
Calabria
Pasta china听is usually Calabria‘s pasta dish for Christmas day: it is like lasagne, but usually made with a maccheroni-type of pasta, filled with meatballs, spicy salame, provola, caciocavallo and pecorino cheeses. Calabrese cuisine contemplates both fish and meat on the 25th of December:听stoccafisso听(air dried cod) is cooked with a lovely tomato, onion, olive oil, capers and sultana sauce called听ghiotta.听Capretto听(kid) is cooked with broccoli, black pepper, garlic, laurel and bread crumbs: this is called听capretto e vr霉occuli nivuri ammullic脿ti. Quazunielli听are sweet parcels of pastry, similar in ingredients to pugliese carteddate,听but听baked rather than fried.
Sicilia
Our tour through the deliciousness of Italy’s traditional Christmas tables has now brought us to the kitchens of Sicily. Hen broth is a popular starter, followed by a world famous Sicilian classic:听pasta con le sarde,听听a traditional dish that has been added to the list of Prodotti agro-alimentari tradizionali Italiani听(traditional Italian agriculture and food products or PAT).听Sarde听are protagonist again for the follow up: stuffed with bread innards, pinenuts, orange peel, laurel and sultanas, they are called听sarde a beccafico.听听One thing: of course, we are talking about fresh sardines here, not the tinned ones!
Mustazzoli听are another听delicious variation of typically southern Italian aromatic, sweet pastries that we have learned to love while exploring the culinary traditions of other southern regions. Check out how to make them:
If you want to truly have a sicilian feast, have your meal with beautiful sicilian wines like a听Zibibbo,听a听Passito di Pantelleria听or a听Malvasia delle Lipari.听
Sardegna
Last, but not certainly least, in our stomach-filling, happiness-inducing trip of Italy is Sardegna. There is more to Sardegna than its beautiful sea: try its glorious food to see what I mean. A听true sardinian Christmas meal starts with homemade听salumi听(sausages and salami) aromatized with finocchietto, wild听fennel. A traditional pasta dish is听culigones de casu,听which are ravioli filled with fresh pecorino, nutmeg, saffron and chard. Culigones听are usually dressed with a fresh tomato sauce and more grated pecorino on top.听Both agnello and capretto听are traditionally consumed, especially roasted听with vegetables.
And so it ends this brief, yet hopefully fulfilling voyage in the kitchens of Italy, all getting ready for Christmas. Maybe our shared, little trip inspired听you, if听you’re the one in charge of the Christmas dinner this year. Maybe, it brought back childhood memories, old snapshots of happiness shared with loved ones, especially if you are of Italian descent, or grew up in those parts of the US where Italians are plenty.
Whichever the result, I hope you enjoyed reading these pages as much as I enjoyed writing them. Now, if you will excuse me… I got a little peckish… I think it’s time to have a slice of panettone with my coffee!
Happy Christmas!
Francesca Bezzone
