Il Menu di Natale Posted by Serena on Dec 24, 2010 in Culture
When I lived in England and taught Italian, at this time of year my students would ask me: "What is the traditional Italian Christmas meal?" They were very surprised when I told them that we don’t have a standard national pranzo di Natale (Christmas lunch), but each region has its own culinary tradition. So, this year I decided to do a bit of research and asked a few friends who come from different parts of Italy what they eat at Christmas.
Whatever the region, the main Christmas meal, which is eaten alla vigilia di Natale aspettando la Messa di mezzanotte (on the evening of the 24th while waiting for midnight Mass), generally follows the simple rule of being di magro (lit. ‘of lean’), that is without meat. Here are the traditional Christmas menus from three different parts of Italy. I’ll start with that given to me by my friend Vilma from Pontremoli in Lunigiana, northern Tuscany:
| Cominciamo con frittelle di sedano, poi la torta di porri seguita da stoccafisso in umido con patate oppure stoccafisso fritto. Come dolce mangiamo la spongata. |
| We start with celery fritters, then leek pie followed by stockfish in tomato sauce with potatoes or fried stockfish. For dessert we have spongata (a thick mixture of dried fruit and chocolate encased in a thin layer of short crust pastry). |
My friend Elisa, who is from Lecce down in Puglia, told me:
| Come primo mangiamo ciciri e tria (pasta e ceci), poi ci sono la parmigiana di melanzane, i rapicauli stufati (cime di rapa stufate), i lampasciuli (cipolline in agro dolce) e le pittule (frittelle di pasta di pane con dentro le acciughe e i capperi). Per dolce abbiamo i purceddruzzi (palline di pasta fritte ricoperte di miele). |
| As a first course we have ‘ciciri e tria’ (a thick soup with chick peas and pasta), then there is ‘parmigiana di melanzane’ (baked aubergine / eggplant with tomato sauce and Parmigiano cheese), ‘rapicauli stufati’ (stewed turnip tops), ‘lampasciuli’ (small sweet and sour onions), and ‘pittule’ (bread dough fritters with anchovies and capers inside). For dessert we have ‘purceddruzzi’ (small fried pastry balls covered in honey). |
Last but not least, Immacolata from Nicotera in Calabria sent me this menu:
| La vigilia di Natale mangiamo tradizionalmente tredici portate, compresi il dolce e la frutta. Cominciamo con pasta col pesce, e poi baccalà fritto e molte verdure fritte come cavolfiori e zucca. Per dolce abbiamo le zeppole. |
| On Christmas eve we traditionally eat thirteen different things, including the dessert and the fruit. We start with pasta with fish, and then fried salted cod and lots of fried vegetables such as cauliflower and pumpkin. For dessert we have ‘zeppole’ (sweet fried pastry). |
As you can see from the examples above, these menus are all ‘di magro’, but definitely not suitable for people on a weight loosing diet or with cholesterol problems! Oh well, Natale viene solo una volta all’anno! (Christmas comes but once a year!)
Buone Feste a tutti i miei lettori!
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Comments:
Bill Rohwer:
Buone Feste a te, Serena! E grazie mille, mille.
By the way, for us American types, stockfish = dried cod.
Buon Natale,
Bill
Lesley:
Buon natale, Serena, dalla nuova zelanda e grazie. Mi piace moltissimo il tuo blog ed imparo tanto ogni giorno.
Auguri, Lesley
Vince:
Cara Serena:
ti auguro un Buon Natale
e un Felice Anno Nuovo
con tanto affetto da
Vincenzo
I consider your blog a gift of Italian that keeps on giving all year long! It takes me back to the good times in Italy and gives me hope of future travels.
Thanks a thousand!
andreas:
Salve Serena!
Sono d’accordo con Vincenzo. Il tuo blog è proprio bello!
E come mi piace la cucina del Sud, perché anch’io sono del Sud del mio paese, dove si fanno tantissimi piatti con pomodori, melanzane ed altri ortaggi.
Andreas
Carolina:
My favorite menu was the one from Calabria! Yum!
Many Italian Americans replicate the tradition of the seven fishes on Christmas Eve. Then our Christmas dinner is similar to Thanksgiving but sometimes with a roast instead of turkey.
Tantissimi auguri di un fantastico 2011!
Carolina
Jeannet Mulder:
Salve Serena,
Sia dopo i Festivi di Buone Natale voglio espressare miei ultisimmi auguri a Serena e agli
lettori per un prospero felice Nuovo Anno!
Grazie mille Serena per tutti blog e attenti donato
nell’anno passato.
Affetti cordiali saluti,
Jeannet
Rose Marie:
Our Christmas Eve is celebrated as Feast of the seven (7) Fishes (sometimes 13 separate dishes). Our family transports this tradition from the Naples area (Campagna) I wish that I could express it in Italian but I am still trying to learn that beautiful language. Buon Apetito. ( La Festa e sette pesce)
Fruitti di Mare (calamari,shrimp,lobster,octopus)
Linguine – with Lobster Sauce-bit of Octopus – Lobster from sauce served separately.
Lobster Tails – Baked and stuffed (last year w/bay scallops
Eel – Fried
Shrimp – Fried
Baccala- Salad -Red/Grn peppers/olives
Baccala Fritters
Fried Smelts
Escarole Salad
Broccoli Salad
Assorted Pastry (incl. struedele-cannoli-etc)
Struffelli (Fried dough balls/covered in Honey)
Serena:
@Rose Marie Salve Rose Marie,
grazie per il tuo contributo al blog. Mi piace molto questo nome, la Festa (o Banchetto) dei sette pesci.
Auguri e Buon Appetito
Serena