What do Italians eat at Christmas? Or for lunch on Easter Sunday? And what about all those seasonal festivals that are such an important part of life in Italy? Well, Maddalena Bonino’s book The Festive Food of Italy (pub Kyle Cathie, RRP £5.99) has the answers. This small, but very informative, guide takes you through the Italian culinary calendar: from New Year’s Eve, when people eat lentils (they’re said to bring wealth) - to All Souls’ Day, when it’s traditional to bake biscuits shaped like broad beans (apparently, back in Egyptian times, beans were thought to contain souls).
Armchair Chefs
If you’re interested in traditional Italian cuisine, then this would make a great addition to your bookshelf – or even a lovely Christmas stocking filler for a foodie. It’s bright and colourful, with plenty of glossy photos – and although it contains a selection of recipes for each festival, which keen cooks can follow, it’s also an interesting read in itself. It’s a good book for armchair chefs.
Ancient Roman Dish
You certainly pick up all sorts of snippets about Italian culinary traditions. The ancient Romans, for instance, used to wear celery wreaths, as they believed that celery made a good hangover cure. They’d even eat stalks of celery for dessert, cooking them with honey and pepper.
Festive Marzipan Sweets
Then there are the marzipan sweets made to celebrate the Feast of the Flowering Almond Tree in Sicily. The marzipan is shaped and painted to look like various fruits and vegetables. It’s an activity once considered so time consuming by the church, that they banned it for a while in the 14th-century. They felt the nuns weren’t spending enough time praying.
Watermelon Jelly
The recipes in The Festive Food of Italy range from simple sweets and side dishes, to substantial main courses. There are recipes for carnival sweets, called Gossips, made from flour, butter and Marsala; stewed lentils, and artichokes Roman style. There’s also a recipe for an unusual watermelon jelly that’s made in Sicily for Ferragosto – a festival in August that dates back to the time of the emperor Augustus.
Hearty Main Courses
Among the recipes for main courses are a classic Torta Pasqualina, the Easter Pie from Liguria, and a lamb stew with an egg and lemon sauce. Then there’s a recipe for a traditional roast loin of pork from Florence, and a lovely autumnal supper - polenta with wild mushroom ragout. Christmas recipes include a Stuffed Capon, a favourite Central Italian dish.
Try this recipe for an ice cream dessert, an alternative to Christmas pudding.
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