Revisiting the Christmas Holidays


I started a blog entry at the end of the Christmas holidays but never had a chance to finish it. Since we have another holiday this week, April 25th, I thought now would be a good time to describe how the Christmas holidays are celebrated in Italy.
Christmas Eve and Christmas Day: Christmas Eve is only the beginning of the gastronomical pleasure/torture that will follow over the next few days. On Christmas Eve, families/friends gather around 8:00 p.m. Tradition dictates that the meal should be without meat and is thus usually has a seafood theme. Mixed appetizers, pasta with clams, fried seafood mix, baked fish with potatoes, salad and a variety of vegetables made up this year's menu. It takes a while to get through all of this food. After dinner, out come the roasted chestnuts, Christmas cakes, cookies, and chocolate that you munch on throughout the evening while chatting and playing cards and bingo. Christmas presents are usually opened at midnight. Afterwards, the bingo continues until the early hours of the morning...
Christmas morning is usually spent waking up late, and then you have lunch: this time a variety of appetizers (cheese, fried veggies, salami, prosciutto, etc.), broth with tortellini, one other type of pasta (lasagna or ravioli), meat and a variety of vegetables, all followed by the Christmas cakes and more chocolate. If you can move after this afternoon, you are doing well.
It doesn't stop there: the 26th of December is also a holiday, St. Stephen's Day. Again, there is another huge lunch. This year, we celebrated with friends where we had a spinach and cheese appetizer, crepes with cheese and vegetables, polenta with sausage and tomato sauce, stuffed cabbage, tons of side dishes, more cakes and chocolate.
Then you have a few days to recover until December 31st and January 1st...
New Year's Eve: Yet again, there is a huge dinner. Everybody goes a little crazy with the fireworks.
New Year's Day: A huge lunch proceeded by a long nap while your body tries to process and deal with the incredible amount of calories consumed over the past week.
And if that isn't enough, there is still one more holiday left: The Epiphany "La Befana" on January 6th. Up until a few decades ago, Santa Claus was not the main figure of the Christmas holidays. In Italy it was the "Befana", a witch-looking woman who brings children stockings full of toys and candy (if they are good) or of coal and garlic (if they are bad).

A little Befana poetry:
(Italian)
La Befana vien di notte
con le scarpe tutte rotte
col vestito alla "romana"
viva viva la Befana !!

Porta cenere e carboni
ai bambini cattivoni
ai bambini belli e buoni
porta chicchi e tanti doni !

(English)
The Befana comes by night
With her shoes all tattered and torn
With a Roman-style dress
Long live the Befana !!

She brings ashes and coal
To bad children
To the nice, good child
She brings candy and many gifts!

Need I add that there is another big lunch on January 6th? And you also have all of the candy that the Befana left to munch on.