Chef Adriano Baldassare, of Vetro, the Oberoi tells Pooja Bhula about why fish is the most prominent feature of the Christmas Eve meal and how Italians are similar to Indian in their celebrations
The last time Adriano spent Christmas with family was in 1996! Doesn't he miss it? "It's a great time to stay at home, but my job isn't just a job, it's my passion," he ...
Friends and relatives visit all through the day on Christmas, offer gifts and take back delicious pandoros (traditional dessert), "Italy is very much like India in that way, we enjoy inviting people and make them very comfortable... But Christmas Eve at home is a complete family affair, even my sisters come over; as the siblings have kids, the family keeps on growing."
Preparation for the meal starts the day before. "The grandmother cooks all the fried food and everyone nibbles on it while it's being made, so not much remains for the next day!"
Traditionally in Italy the Christmas Eve meal is meatless, only fish is allowed. In fact some places also observe a Seven Fishes Feast. "As is the case with any holy day, catholics are supposed to have meatless fast on every Friday as per the church rule," adds Baldassare. Therefore the Christmas Eve meal is very different from the usual Italian spread. "There will be four to five starters, including a seafood salad, fried snacks like fried artichokes, brocolli, apple and various other fried vegetables and fruits... the first course will have one or two pasta such as spaghetti with clams. The table feature all kinds of fish from salmon and oyster to caviar and definitely one his of fish on grill. But the Seven Fishes Feast is a more Italian-American thing..."
In many houses shrimp cocktail, fried calamari and shrimps, prickly pizza and other kinds of fish salad also feature among antipasti. The second course could be anything from fried salt cod or fried eel to baked fish.
"Each region in Italy has its own traditional desserts, but a few that are universally enjoyed are panettone–originating in Milan, it's a beautiful spongy brioche with raisins and orange zest. It takes several days and an interesting technique to give it its fluffiness;pandoro–a star-shaped Italian sweet bread, belonging to the northern region, also similar to brioche. But has less butter; and torrone. There are two types–one is a chocolate block with hazelnut, and the other is made of sugar, honey, egg white, hazelnuts and is much harder."
If you're travelling to Italy during this festive season, Paola Angelini, a resident of Naples, says, "the best place to experience the richest 'culinary' Christmas tradition is in south Italy–Naples and Campania–where it is observed, and more than the northern regions. Vigilia di Natale, the Christmas Eve meal is the most important."
Adriano's family catches the 12 o'clock Vatican-mass on TV, and Paola also admits that only about 20% of the catholics in Italy would be attending the mass at church. So in most cases the dinner goes on for hours, while the eat and plays cards or 'tombola'–a type of raffle popular in which tickets are drawn from a revolving drum.
12 o'clock, believed to be Jesus' birth time, is also the the time that kids await, as they are allowed to finally open their gifts.
Additional inputs about the Christmas meal as well as the games played from Paola Angelini
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