Traditional Christmas recipes

Info and Description

Every year, at Christmas, families come together in a moment of joy. Many are waiting for the Christmas period to dedicate themselves to their loved ones, to switch off from everyday life and someone does it to enjoy Christmas recipes.

Despite the cold, the houses light up with lit fireplaces and the environment full of lights and warmth. In Italy, Christmas is very much felt especially for the famous "Christmas lunch". You can choose to spend it at home or at the restaurant, but in any case, the commitment of those who are in the kitchen will always be at the maximum. You can't ruin a Christmas meal!!

Traditional Christmas recipes

In Italy, Christmas recipes have always been linked to tradition and this means that everything that is put on the table is the result of a long tradition for the choice of ingredients and their preparation.

Each region of Italy keeps its own recipes and jealously guards them. In large cities, as in villages and valleys, the proposal of typical sweets is truly varied. Now you will see 10 desserts that you will surely find on a table set during the Italian Christmas holidays.

Panettone, the undisputed king of Milan and Lombardy, made with a leavened dough based on flour, water, mother yeast, eggs, butter, candied fruit, citron and orange peel and raisins. But why is it called like that?

Its name derives from “Pan de Toni”, taking its cue from its inventor Toni, a scullery boy who served at the Court of Ludovico il Moro. According to legend, the dessert was born in the fifteenth century following an accident in the kitchen: the dessert for the banquet, burned by the Sforza head chef.

It was Toni who saved everything and created what we all know today as the symbol of Christmas with leftover mother yeast mixed with flour, eggs, sugar, cedar and raisins.

The pandoro of Verona has very ancient origins. It was immediately considered as a variant of "Nadalin", a typical Venetian dessert of the nineteenth century. However, its birth has a precise date: 14 October 1894, when Domenico Melegatti filed the official patent of this very soft and fragrant dessert, still considered today a timeless Christmas symbol.

Its name, on the other hand, dates back to the times of the Venetian Republic, when a typical dessert called "Pan de oro" was offered.

After the two kings of Christmas, we find the Tronchetto di Natale typical of Piedmont. In fact, it contains butter, mascarpone, eggs, chestnut cream, cream and chocolate, all ingredients that make it rich and irresistible.

Its hole recalls the stump of a tree to be burned in the fireplace, during the night of celebration.

In central Italy, regions flaunt Christmas sweets such as Certosino (or Pan Speziale) in Bologna.

The dessert is made with flour, almonds, pine nuts, honey, candied fruit, quince jam or mustard, cocoa and chocolate.

Everything is then decorated with candied fruit, walnuts, almonds and brushed with warm honey. Maturing is a fundamental phase for the success of this dessert: the Certosino to be really good must in fact rest for at least 10 or 20 days.

In Tuscany, Panforte di Siena cannot be missed. It was possible to find it in Siena as early as 1200, when colonists and servants brought this soft bread as a tribute to the nuns of the Monte Celso convent.

Today the panforte dough is prepared with almonds, candied fruit, mixed spices such as cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger - all tied up with a delicious honey and sugar syrup - and baked in the oven.

In Rome and Lazio, on the other hand, another dessert, typical of Christmas, is famous: it is the Roman Pangiallo.

It dates back to imperial Rome, where it was used to prepare it during the winter solstice, as a good omen for the return to long days. The name derives from the icing that covers it. The filling, on the other hand, is made from flour, walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, pine nuts, dried figs, honey, bitter cocoa and orange peel, to which ricotta is also often added.

Going down to Southern Italy, you will discover the recipes of the most famous desserts, also famous in the rest of the beautiful country.

The struffoli in Naples were the first to be prepare in the Greek tables. It has always been a dessert of poor origin and until recently, they were prepared in convents and donated to the needy directly by the nuns.

In Apulia, in the heel of our boot, cartellate are the protagonists. Crowns of flavored pasta, fried and covered with honey.

Tradition has it that the dough, during cooking, takes the shape of the bands of the Child Jesus. Their history is very ancient, even some make it begin around the sixth century BC

In Calabria, the whole year is dotted with figs and for Christmas, of course, they could not miss it.

Fichi chini (stuffed figs) are stuffed with dried fruit, chocolate and candied fruit. The curiosity lies precisely in how they are served: superimposed four by four to form a cross.

Finally, Sicily, sweetens the Christmas holidays with the cubaita, nougat typical of the city of Modica.

A recipe that comes from the Middle East made with honey, sesame, almonds and orange and lemon peel. The trick is in cooking, that is, you need to be careful not to burn the honey or almonds.

Italy has always been a beacon in world gastronomy and certainly no one has ever been wrong about this. Come and find out what else we offer! At least one of these specialties deserves a nice Christmas weekend, what do you think? Find out more online!