Winter 2006
www.GilardiniUSA.com
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We have been in Manasquan for almost five months and things are finally starting to get back to normal. We had a good summer and are now ready for the holiday season. We are also planning our January buying trip and hope to be able to venture to Sicilia to find some interesting majolica to import for the shop. Since Christmas is our favorite holiday and of special importance in Italian culture we dedicated this issue to some Italian traditions and customs. Buon Natale e Felice Anno Nuovo Laura and Bill Tis the Season 
The Christmas season in Italy is mainly celebrated from Christmas Eve through the Epiphany (January 6). However, in some regions the festivities begin earlier. In the Apulia region, particularly in the town of Bari, San Nicola (Saint Nicholas patron of shepherds) visits the children on December 6th his feast day. In Pollutri, Abruzzo the feast day is celebrated by cooking large cauldrons of fava beans which are then eaten as part of the ceremony. In Sicilia, on December 13th Santa Lucia (Saint Lucy) travels with her donkey carrying baskets of sweets to leave for the children. Similarly, in the town of Verona, in the Veneto region, the children write letters to Santa Lucia to tell her what presents they want. Then on the evening of the 12th they have to
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prepare milk for Santa Lucia's donkey and bread for Santa Lucia.
If they've been good they can expect a plate full of cookies and presents too. The typical cookie during this period is, Pastafrolle di Santa Lucia. Although Babbo Natale (Father Christmas) and giving presents on Christmas are becoming more common, the main day for gift giving historically was Epiphany, the 12th day of Christmas when the three Wise Men gave Baby Jesus their gifts. In Italy, presents are brought by La Befana, an old woman or witch, who arrives on her broomstick in the night to fill children's stockings.Il Presepio Christmas decorations and trees are becoming more popular in Italy. However, the main focus of decorations continues to be the presepio, Nativity scene or creche. Almost every church and most homes have a presepio. Legend has it that this tradition was started in 1223 in the small village of Greccio near Assisi by Saint Francis who had just returned from Bethlehem and wanted his followers to experience the story as it had actually happened. With the help of his friend Giovanni Vellita, a manger and live animals were provided. Locals were recruited to play the parts and after celebrating mass under the stars St. Francis told the story of Jesus’ birth. Since that time, the creation of figures for the scenes has reached great heights of artistic achievement, especially in Napoli. This city boasts a treasure of crèche objects. True works of art, |
fashioned from coral or gold, are preserved at the Museo di San Martino in Napoli, which houses the largest collection of crèches in the world, some of which date back to the 1400's. In Rome you can see a famous crèche with life-size figures in the Piazza San Pietro, and another on the celebrated Trinità dei Monti stairway.
 In the past , Christmas trees have been more popular in the north and nativity scenes more popular in the south. The Ceppo, a tradition that began in Tuscany, is a pyramid made of wood that is decorated with candles and holds a small presepio, decorations, candy, fruit and greenery. In Umbria there is the world’s largest Christmas tree. Since 1981, in Gubbio (home of the Biagioli’s), a group of residents set up on the slope of Monte Ingino a huge Christmas tree composed of more than 1000 coloured lamps. The tree is 1,475 feet wide and 1,640 feet tall, and the star is 130 feet by 82 feet La Vigilia di Natale There’s an old proverb that says: “Natale con i tuoi, Pasqua dove vuoi.” (Christmas with your family, Easter where you like.) Christmas Eve in Italy is celebrated with a large meal that includes seafood and vegetables but no meat. There are many variations on the number of fish dishes etc. with there being more in the south than the north. |
Gilardini Ceramica Italiana Newsletter
Winter 2006
www.GilardiniUSA.com
| Sweets with nuts and almonds are common at the Christmas Eve meal, including biscotti, panforte, pandoro and almost always includes panettone. Most of you are familiar with biscotti but a little background on the others. Panettone - Traditionally made with raisins and candied citron, the Italian Christmas Panettone has graced Christmas tables in Milan since at least the fifteenth century. The historian Ludovico Antonio Muratori, who lived from 1672 to 1750, attributed the origins of this cake to a much earlier period, contending that it probably developed out of an old pagan custom documented in Lombardy as far back as the early eleventh century. Once the Christmas dinner had been served, the head of the family would pour a little wine from his glass over the burning Yule log, along with a small bundle of juniper branches and berries. He would then break the big cake, but not before carving a cross onto its surface. A piece of the cake was then distributed to every member of the family. Specially prepared for the occasion with great care, the Christmas cake also served as a token of family bonds. Over the years it became the custom to prepare the Christmas cake exclusively with white wheat flour, an ingredient that underscored its importance. The Christmas cake thus came to be referred to as pan del ton (or luxurious cake), which evolved into the current panettone. Pandoro - Second only to the panettone in holiday popularity, Pandora (golden bread) is of more recent origin and therefore, more reflective of today's tastes. Emerging in Verona a century ago when changes in fashion favored | lighter leavened doughs over heavy, almondy pastes, Pandoro adheres closely to a production formula in the Venetian tradition. Tall, distinctive and shaped like a Christmas tree, it is topped with powdered sugar reminiscent of snow, or a twinkling star. Like panettone, pandoro may be enjoyed plain; but also, it is presented traditionally at restaurants and private parties with many types of creams or sauces, such as mascarpone, melted chocolate or whipped cream poured over its slices. Panforte, (strong bread) was originally a delicacy of Siena, in Tuscany, and now enjoys wide popularity throughout Italy. Legend has it that in 1205, serfs and tenants of the Montecellesi nunnery were compelled to bring the nuns spice and honey cakes as a measure of the census. So delicious were these cakes that they soon came into laymen's hands. In those days, nunneries prepared medicinal mixtures of herbs and spices; and later, the concocting of these was assumed by the speziali (chemists), and along with it, the preparation of Panforte. Thus, some of the most famous brands of Panforte today bear the names of ancient pharmacists' families. Round in shape, Panforte's basic ingredients are fresh almonds, candied fruit (primarily citrus), spices and honey. The most widely sold Panforte today is Panforte Margherita, named in honor of Queen Margherita, wife of the Italian king Umberto I, and based on a recipe which gave the cake a more delicate taste. Torrone - is a traditional Italian holiday candy, whose roots are in ancient Rome. Made from honey, |
almonds and eggs the first documented mention of Torrone was in the year 1441 in Cremona, where at the wedding of Francesco Sforza to Maria Bianca Visconti, a new sweet was created in their honour. Shaped like the “Torrazzo” the famous tower of Cremona, this delicacy became popularly known as Torrone.
Il Zampognario 
One of the more unusual sites of Christmas in Italy are the bagpipes. The zampognari (shepherds who play the bagpipes) come from their homes in the mountains to perform in the market squares in Calabria, Abruzzo and Rome. The zampognari wear traditional outfits of sheepskin vests, leather breeches and a woolen cloak. They stop before every shrine to the Madonna and every Nativity scene to play their music.
Capodanno Capo d’anno (the New Year) is welcomed with optimism for the future and aspirations of prosperity and good health. Lentils are traditionally eaten on New Year’s Day in Italy as a symbol of good luck and prosperity. The celebration of the New Year presents the opportunity to give up the “old” which is demonstrated by throwing old objects such as broken plates and pots out the window on New Year’s Eve. In my region of Piemonte the tradition is if you encounter a wagon with hay on it or a white horse you will have good luck for the year. |