Traditions of Christmas - The foods!
Dec. 14th, 2004 10:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
poltr1In many families, there are certain foods that are eaten only once a year. In my family, we celebrated many of the southern Italian traditions of Christmas and ate Italian foods. Mom had her one Polish custom of eating pickled herring on New Years' Eve.
I have fond memories of these foods, and the times we got together with my relatives to eat them.
Many of these foods might be found at specialty stores like my beloved Carfagna's in Columbus or DiSalvo's Deli in Dayton, or large markets with an international food section, like Tops International or Jungle Jim's. Cities with large Italian populations (New York, Cleveland, Boston, Philadelphia, Buffalo) should have these in ample supply.
So, what sort of foods did we eat?
Cookies. One year, my sister made several different types of cookies, including rum balls, Mexican wedding cake cookies, and cuccidati (a fig cookie). It was hard work preparing the figs and adding them to the dough to make cookies. I think fresh figs would work better, but the dried figs are easier to come by. The following year, I think she cut back. And we ate the dried figs as is, right off the string or out of the package.
Candies. I especially remember the hard raspberry-flavored candies, with a jelly-filled center. I don't know if they have a special name, but we used to get them a lot. We also had torrones, an almond nougat candy. The packaging seems to imply that these were made to commemorate a wedding. Sure enough, it was. (History)
Christmas dinner. Dinner was either lasagna or ham. The lasagna recipe -- lasagna al forno -- came from a cookbook published by the womens' group of St. Ann's Church in Olean, NY. It has since made its way into my recipe book. The ham was seasoned with pineapple slices and cloves.
Marinated octopus. One of my parents' friends made this; it was an appetizer or hors d'ouevres that they had out when we came by to visit. Even as a young boy, I liked it. (Octopus is a delicacy in Italy, Greece, Spain, and Japan. In Detroit, it's often flung onto the ice at Red Wings games. :-) ) I'd love to get the recipe. I found a few recipes online; if I can get some octopus, I'll try making some for myself.
Pan-fried calamari (squid). Yecch. This was one of my dad's favorites. Mom would cut up the squid into rings and pan-fry them in oil. Instead of using olive oil, she probably used vegetable oil, which adds nothing to the taste. The house smelled of squid for a week. However, I won't hesitate to have this when I'm eating at Italian or Japanese restaurants. It's great breaded, as nigiri sushi, or as a calamari steak.
Anise. Looks like celery with a big bulb at the root, and fronds at the top of the plant (like dill), instead of leaves (like celery). It's very sweet. Its essential oil is used to flavor candies and licorice. A related plant is fennel, also known as finocchio, whose seeds are often used in Italian cooking.
Other Italian foods that I've since added to the holiday list:
Pizelles. These are thin waffle cookies, made in a device that resembles a small waffle iron, except that there are designs on the iron. They sometimes come in flavors, like vanilla, almond, and anise.
Panettone. An Italian Christmas fruitcake. Unlike "traditional" American fruitcake, which is loaded with nastybad candied and colored dried fruit, doused with rum, re-wrapped, given as gifts, and used as doorstops (thank you Calvin Trillin), panettone has dried orange bits, lemon bits, and raisins, in a sweet bread-like dough. (History)
Sopressata. A dried salami. Best cut up into small cubes and placed on an appetizer dish. Wonderful with sharp provolone cheese, also cubed.
Hungry yet? Visit italianmade.com to find out more about these foods, and the history behind them.
I have fond memories of these foods, and the times we got together with my relatives to eat them.
Many of these foods might be found at specialty stores like my beloved Carfagna's in Columbus or DiSalvo's Deli in Dayton, or large markets with an international food section, like Tops International or Jungle Jim's. Cities with large Italian populations (New York, Cleveland, Boston, Philadelphia, Buffalo) should have these in ample supply.
So, what sort of foods did we eat?
Cookies. One year, my sister made several different types of cookies, including rum balls, Mexican wedding cake cookies, and cuccidati (a fig cookie). It was hard work preparing the figs and adding them to the dough to make cookies. I think fresh figs would work better, but the dried figs are easier to come by. The following year, I think she cut back. And we ate the dried figs as is, right off the string or out of the package.
Candies. I especially remember the hard raspberry-flavored candies, with a jelly-filled center. I don't know if they have a special name, but we used to get them a lot. We also had torrones, an almond nougat candy. The packaging seems to imply that these were made to commemorate a wedding. Sure enough, it was. (History)
Christmas dinner. Dinner was either lasagna or ham. The lasagna recipe -- lasagna al forno -- came from a cookbook published by the womens' group of St. Ann's Church in Olean, NY. It has since made its way into my recipe book. The ham was seasoned with pineapple slices and cloves.
Marinated octopus. One of my parents' friends made this; it was an appetizer or hors d'ouevres that they had out when we came by to visit. Even as a young boy, I liked it. (Octopus is a delicacy in Italy, Greece, Spain, and Japan. In Detroit, it's often flung onto the ice at Red Wings games. :-) ) I'd love to get the recipe. I found a few recipes online; if I can get some octopus, I'll try making some for myself.
Pan-fried calamari (squid). Yecch. This was one of my dad's favorites. Mom would cut up the squid into rings and pan-fry them in oil. Instead of using olive oil, she probably used vegetable oil, which adds nothing to the taste. The house smelled of squid for a week. However, I won't hesitate to have this when I'm eating at Italian or Japanese restaurants. It's great breaded, as nigiri sushi, or as a calamari steak.
Anise. Looks like celery with a big bulb at the root, and fronds at the top of the plant (like dill), instead of leaves (like celery). It's very sweet. Its essential oil is used to flavor candies and licorice. A related plant is fennel, also known as finocchio, whose seeds are often used in Italian cooking.
Other Italian foods that I've since added to the holiday list:
Pizelles. These are thin waffle cookies, made in a device that resembles a small waffle iron, except that there are designs on the iron. They sometimes come in flavors, like vanilla, almond, and anise.
Panettone. An Italian Christmas fruitcake. Unlike "traditional" American fruitcake, which is loaded with nastybad candied and colored dried fruit, doused with rum, re-wrapped, given as gifts, and used as doorstops (thank you Calvin Trillin), panettone has dried orange bits, lemon bits, and raisins, in a sweet bread-like dough. (History)
Sopressata. A dried salami. Best cut up into small cubes and placed on an appetizer dish. Wonderful with sharp provolone cheese, also cubed.
Hungry yet? Visit italianmade.com to find out more about these foods, and the history behind them.
