EyeItalia

Suddenly it’s Christmas time. When you live in a small Tuscan town and don’t often go to big cities, the holiday has a way of sneaking up on you. Today, after weeks of rain, a ray of late afternoon sun broke through the clouds so I bolted downtown to the post office.  I turned the corner and a huge Christmas tree stood in the middle of the church’s Piazza del Duomo. It was decorated only with white twinkle lights that reflected off the rainsoaked bricks of the pavement and illuminated the ancient walls of the old church. The piazza glowed in a light that erased any trace of modern life and for a minute, time stood still. Even though I stood alone in the empty piazza, I had the eerie feeling that there were centuries upon centuries of souls surrounding me and looking at the same timeless scene as I.

Tuscan Understatment—A Small Town Christmas
On the way home I walked down the main street under little inverted gothic arches of lights.  A few storefronts have been decorated: a blow-up Santa climbing down a ladder is hitched onto the window above the pharmacy and the butcher has stuck little well-wishes “auguri” signs in his baskets of salami. It’s very “unTuscan” to get too fancy and go overboard, even if Christmas is the most important holiday of the year.  This understatement is exactly why we’ve decided to stay in Italy to celebrate this Christmas. We’re having “un Natale in paese,”…a small town Christmas …so we can be with the Tuscan side of our family for the first time in years.

Midnight Mass, Steamy Hymns and Thick Hot Chocolate
The local holiday tradition is to attend Christmas Eve midnight mass on “La Vigilia di Natale,” along with most everyone in town. Our eight-hundred-year-old neighborhood church isn’t heated, so young and old are wrapped in layers of wool from head to toe. People pack themselves tightly into the pews, hoping to generate some extra warmth but still exhale clouds of steam while singing hymns. Afterwards, back home trying to thaw out, kids drink hot chocolate so thick that a spoon can stand by itself while adults sip sweet vin santo wine to shake the churches chill.

Santa Claus….Babbo Natale….and his Donkey?
Christmas trees in the home are decorated with ornaments and lights though in the past they were mostly trimmed with things to eat: chocolates, mandarines, almond cookies and whatever else edible could be pierced with a needle and strung onto the branches. The tree is topped not just by a star but a “stella cometa”… a comet with a tail… like the one that the Tre Magi…Wise Men…followed to find the Christ Child. And like everywhere, during the night, Babbo Natale…literally Father Christmas…squeezes down the chimney with presents to a waiting glass of wine, plus a bit of straw and water for his “ciucco” because Italian Santas travel by donkey, not reindeer!

Manger Scenes with Bingo Games and Barack Obama
Another classic Italian decoration is the “presepe” manger scene which are in every home but are especially elaborate in the South. They can range from very simple sets of the Holy Family in the manger, to block-long, entire lilliputian settlements complete with electric lights and running water which are populated by little figurines made of gesso or clay who move busily in workshops, stores, houses, boats, mills, taverns and even play “tombola” bingo. There is a whole (real) neighborhood in the historical center of Naples that specializes in making these “presepe” figures and every year a new celebrity is featured….this year the wildly popular Barack Obama can be found in a multitude of versions, while poor George Bush is molto “fuori moda” and has been moved to the half-off bin.

Less Years, More Presents
In our family, Christmas presents are inversely proportioned to one’s age: the younger get more, the older get less, and all presents tend to be “pensierini,”  a little “thought” to show that you are special and someone cares. Italians haven’t been sold on the concept of the life-changing effect that the “perfect gift” is supposed to have and don’t beat themselves up to give or receive it. As a result, the holidays are much simpler, people are happier and the air is full of uncomplicated Christmas calm.

Six-Course Lunch and Twenty Kinds of Panettone
The day’s big event, of course, is Christmas lunch and even in the simplest of households the meal stretches into at least six courses. We start every holiday meal with crostini; slices of “filino” baguette bread, topped with chicken liver mixed with capers, porcini, shrimp salad and artichoke pates. For Christmas the “bis” or two “primi piatti” are crespelle di spinaci…baked spinach and ricotta filled crepes… and the classic tortellini “in brodo”…served in broth. The main course is a “tris” of baked lamb, roasted young “galletto” cockerel, and the very traditional boiled beef with salsa verde anchovy sauce. Roasted seasonal vegetables and salad are served as “contorni” on the side. The dessert choice is written in stone:….”panettone,” the slightly elongated, dome-shaped “cupola” cake that’s so soft you can pull pieces off of it instead of using a knife. The varieties range from the classic plain, to ones with candied fruit, or raisins, almonds, figs, apricot, cherry, chestnut, limoncello-flavored, coffee-flavored, bacio hazelnut chocolate-filled ….There are at least 20 special kinds of panettone for the Christmas season and they are all stacked in lines of leaning towers along the aisles of local supermarkets.

La Befana—The Italian Good Witch of Epiphany
Incredibly, Italian children actually look forward to the end of Christmas Day because it means they’re one day closer to the morning of Epiphany, January 6th, when they run to the hearth to find what the ugly old witch, La Befana, has left in their stockings. This mixture of Christian legend and pagan folklore tells of the old,ugly Befana who hosted the Magi one night during their search for the Baby Jesus. When the Magi asked her to come search with them, she declined saying she had to keep cleaning her already spotless house. After they left she repented, took to the skies on her broom and searched for them and the Christ Child but never found either. So, every year on the eve of Epiphany she continues her search, and visits all Italian children bringing them candies, dried fruits, nuts and toys if they’ve been good….and lumps of coal (made out of chocolate, of course) if they’ve been bad.

Lunch is at 1–We’ll Set a Place for You
So, my friends, if you’re looking for another “softer” version of the holidays, try Tuscany next time. Spectacular scenery, heaps of history, big on food but small of stress. We’ll be sitting down to eat right at 1 p.m. and there’s always room for another person or two at the table. Drop by and join us. Trust me, you’ll never want to be anywhere else for the holidays again!  Umm…scusami, could you pass me the crostini, please?

Auguri e Buone Feste A Tutti, Good Health to All and Peace on Earth!

—Text & Photos by Lisa Halderman