In Italy dishes and traditions at Christmas time are very different from North to South. In the Central region and in the South people celebrate the Cenone della Vigilia or ‘Christmas Eve’ while in the North people celebrate Pranzo di Natale or Christmas Day.
Every region has their own traditions and they are all very different from each other based on history and the local heritage. On Christmas Eve the meal is usually based on fish but on Christmas Day the range of dishes is much more varied and changes from region to region depending on seasonal local ingredients and produce.
Northern Regions
VALLE D’AOSTA
Starting from Valle d’Aosta in the very Northern region between France and Switzerland, the specialties eaten are carbonade, beef cooked in red wine, plenty of goat or sheep cured meats infused with herbs and spices and honey croutons are also very popular.
Piemonte
In Piemonte it is not Christmas without agnolotti (a kind of ravioli) and mixed boiled meat, seasoned with sauces including bagnet ross e verd or brasato al Barolo, braised beef in Barolo wine.
LIGURIA, LOMBARDIA & VENETO
In Liguria the speciality is ravioli filled with meat, following capon and fish. In Lombardia, surprisingly, one of the most traditional dishes is eel cooked in foil and in Veneto polenta is eaten with baccala (salted cod) or boiled meat with sauces.
Friuli-Venezia Giulia
In Friuli-Venezia Giulia brovada e muset are very popular, this is a very tasty type of pork sausage with fermented turnips, and polenta, tripe with sauce, cheese and capon are also favourite dishes.
TRENTINO ALTO ADIGE
Across in Trentino-Alto Adige there are canederli (bread dumplings), deer or kid cooked in the oven and to finish strudel or zelten, made with dried fruit and candied fruit.
Central Regions
Emilia Romagna
Travelling to the centre of Italy, starting from Emilia Romagna, the Kitchen of Italy, there is plenty choice from tortellini and passatelli, strictly in broth, tagliatelle and lasagna, but also pumpkin and herb tortelli, Culatello ham, roast eel and stewed or fried baccala (salted cod).
Tuscany & Lazio
Tuscans enjoy crostini with livers, but also roast guinea fowl or duck and stuffed capon. The baccala and capitone, female eel, are also the signature dishes in Lazio, with abundance of fried mixed vegetables and broccoli.
Marche
In Marche along the east coast of Italy you will find cappelletti in broth, vincigrassi a variant of baked pasta with meat sauce and mixed meats, capon and stockfish.
Umbria
In Umbria they serve chicken liver pate, pappardelle with hare or wild boar, black truffle and lamb and in Molise you can try the thistle soup, the fish brodetto, and baccala.
Southern Regions
Campania
Capon broth, spaghetti with clams, baked maccheroni, stuffed capon with salad, capitone eel and struffoli, sweet fritters, are specialities of Campania.
Basilicata
In Basilicata you cannot miss the pettole, balls of yeast dough fried in olive oil with anchovies or baccala, and the strascinati pasta, similar to a large ear, with meat ragout or baccala with cruschi peppers; hot and very crunchy they are made from a particular local pepper—Peperone di Senise—that are so special they have a denomination of origin like a wine.
Calabria
In Calabria traditional cured meats and cheese for antipasto, timballo di pasta (timbale pasta), baked kid with potatoes or stockfish.
Puglia
In Puglia the antipasto is often made up of an abundance of seafood, freshly caught and shellfish, after some home made orecchiette pasta with cime di rapa, turnip greens, followed by oven baked lamb.
Sicila
In Sicilia there are crispelle, fried yeast dough filled with anchovies or fresh ricotta cheese, to start and following with pasta ‘ncaciata’, a rich pasta with ragout, lots of cacio cheese, aubergines and boiled eggs. Followed with falsomagro (fake slim), a veal roll with eggs, ham, different cheeses and cooked on a bed of onions with tomato sauce or fried cod, and to finish, cannoli.
Sardegna
In Sardegna, for antipasti there is freshly-made pecorino cheese, stuffed sardines or octopus, followed by gnocchetti with lamb ragout, linguine with sea urchin, roasted porceddu – suckling pig or oven baked kid.
