Two more of my Italian friends shared their Christmas traditions to help round out what my friend Ermes wrote in the previous post.
My daughter Laura's father-in-law Joe explains the significance of some of Italian traditions as well as adding a little story of his own.
He writes,
"Culturally, our holiday celebrations always involved gathering with family members and in sharing food. We fondly remember the food as being the central focus during the holidays. On Christmas Eve, we would share a meal of fish to observe the Feast of the Seven Fishes This practice originates from the Roman Catholic directive to abstain from eating meat and dairy products on the eve of special holidays.
Christmas Eve for most Italians has always been about attending midnight Mass. The percepio or nativity scene was of central importance as Italians didn't have Christmas trees. That is a modern symbol of Christmas. Presents were not given on Christmas Eve or Day. They were exchanged at the Epiphany in early January. These gifts were usually token of food or sweets. The Epiphany was a celebration of the Magi and the giving of the gifts to Jesus in recognition of his birth.
I would like to share a Christmas story from when I was a small child living in Italy. I will never forget my father driving to the closest big town some distance from the small town we lived in, in order to do some work at Christmas time. . He returned home with two bananas. This was a rare gift for the family to have and we watched in wonder as my dad sliced these bananas into small coins and passed them out to all of the family gathered. This was his gift to the family and we were all grateful.
My how things have changed!"
My good friend Mario DeThomasis adds a few more specific details about his similar Italian traditions as well as an interesting French Canadian tradition.
"A tradition that we still follow is a family meal on Christmas eve with a specific menu of 7 types of food. The tradition, as far as I can remember, comes from the reality that most people ate poor peasant food throughout the year. The Christmas season was a time to rejoice and feast the arrival of our Lord Jesus. And, it was a time to present foods that were not available/affordable for daily meals. A pig was slaughtered and all parts were eaten or preserved. Anyone coming to your door was offered food (I believe this had to do with the La Befana di Natale testing your spirit of the season).
In our region of Italy, the following occurred;
a) Christmas Eve meal --- Abstain from meat and serve the 7 different foods. In our family this is typically what we serve: battered cod (as appetizer), fritti (potato donuts), bean soup in a tomato sauce, pasta with olive oil and anchovies, roasted cod and cod in a tomato broth, savoy cabbage with anchovies, roasted fish, rapini and potatoes. Everyone must taste/eat each variety of food.
b) Christmas Day --- A variety of pork meat, polenta, pastas, fish, chicken broth ....anything goes!
c) Eve of the Epiphany --- La Befana di Natale (a fairy-like old lady akin to Santa Claus) awaited bearing gifts. A prized gift was an orange or tangerine and for naughty boys and girls, a piece of coal.
Different regions of Italy celebrated in different ways. The above was ours.
Also in Quebec's rural areas (in the past) on Christmas eve, the children would gather around and awaited the father's (parent's) blessing."
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