Christmas in Italy – Festive spirit from the Italian garden

When one imagines the typical Italian Christmas it’s hard to think of any links that Italian Christmas festivities may have with the Italian garden. Well, even in the somewhat bleak Italian winter the link between the Italian Christmas dinner table and the great outdoors is very strong indeed and is never far from Italian festivities and Christmas traditions.

From the cork that flies free of the Spumante bottle at the aperitivo di natale, the green sauce that accompanies the boiled meets to the after dinner 100 herb liqueur,  the Italians share their Christmas with nature maybe more than they think. The same spumante cork that generally hits Grandma or that lands in an unsuspecting cake mix, while chestnuts roast on the open fire,  is derived from the bark of an oak tree (Quercus suber) and has been farmed for this purpose since Etruscan times in italy. The Spumante itself, that flows more at Christmas than at other time of the year in Italy, comes from an Italian grape avec natural bubbles and is by now a classic of the Italian Christmas season.

Italy’s link with nature has formed over centuries and nature’s bounty is truly revealed during the festive season. Italian farmer’s would have once celebrated Christmas with the slaughter of pig, from which over 60 products were derived. The fat was transformed into candles and the meat into an array of sumptuous Christmas dishes, such as Cotechino or Zampone the latter making use of the succulent meat of the pig’s feet. Zamponi, although more a New Year’s dish, can be found in all the shops here in Italy from November onwards. The slaughter of the pig also calls for a great festa, whenever it takes place but Christmas always calls for extra celebrations.

Nowadays in Italy the meat is generally bought in supermarkets and the stores with their stacks of traditional Christmas food stand as a good testament to this. However, the great outdoors is never far away and Italians are proud to rejoice in the bounty they receive from their land at any time of the year and Christmas really symbolises this wonderfully.   ‘Christmas in Italy’ has now also become a major tourist attraction, with the idea of roasting chestnuts on glowing coals while swilling a velvety red wine like Amarone or Brunello appealing to many people.

Ancient Italian hamlets, monasteries and even castles set the scene for the perfect Christmas in Italy and great food and wine are the major attraction with clear, crisp days and the odd snowfall thrown in for good measure. See: http://www.palazzocervini.com/#/christmas-at-the-hermitage/4532436925

For those who can’t make it to Italy in the festive season and need to stay at home there is a novel way of bringing Italy and its festivities into their homes at Christmas time. By designing an Italian style garden around the cultivation of seasonal plants one can have an Italian garden for every season and Christmas is of no exception. If only a small area of the garden is turned over to the production of wild flower meadow a whole host of natural herbs can be gathered and used to make liqueurs. Unripe walnuts from the majestic walnut tree, so common in Italian gardens,  can be soaked in grappa to make traditional walnut liqueurs and we often catch Alessandro raiding one of the walnut trees here at the Palace for this very purpose.

Caper plants can be planted, using the traditional Italian method, by putting their seeds into a ripe fig and then squeezing them into cracks on warm, sunny walls. Capers and Parsley are the main ingredients for the famous ‘salsa-verde’ or green sauce that accompanies boiled meats at Christmas in Italy and these can both be obtained from an Italian style garden. Pomegranates can be picked from such an Italian style garden in order to adorn  the Italian Christmas table, while jostling for space with plump grapes, hazelnuts and dried figs etc at this festive time.

With a little thought we can all capture the essence of Christmas in Italy, either by being there or by simply enjoying the wonderful link that Italy and its people share with Mother nature at this time.

Merry Christmas Italia Living from Palazzo Cervini, Italy.