The Italian food and wine tradition, as we know, is among the richest in the world. Each region, each area has its own typical products, linked to centuries-old traditions and recipes that are lost back in time. And this cultural heritage is still found today in many different products that continue these traditions, enrich and pass on their flavors and taste, perhaps with small revisits in a modern key. The Christmas season, in particular, is really very rich in typical foods, foods and dishes that are consumed in the weeks around Christmas and at the turn of the new year.
By carefully selecting delicious high-quality and handcrafted products, also linked to the holiday season – but not only – Maletti offers food and wine baskets ideal as a Christmas gift; they are certainly successful gifts for friends, relatives or employees who will be appreciated and enjoyed during this period. But what foods – also proposed by Maletti – can not miss on the Christmas table of the Italians?
Traditionally eaten during the New Year's Eve dinner, together with the inevitable cotechino, they are not only a typical dish of the tradition, but also an auspicious dish . Eating lentils immediately after midnight is; symbol of good omen, since Roman times: for their shape they were in fact compared to sound coins, and their nutritional values were already; note then.
The typical main dish to be served with lentils (but also with a lighter pur) they are foods consumed mainly between Christmas and New Year. The substance is the same (lean and fat coarsely minced meat) but change the casing: front leg of pork for the zampone, gut (natural or artificial) for the cotechino.
A rough and thin Emilian artisan pasta with manual closure there may be different fillings, but the typical one of Modena contains Parma Ham, Parmigiano Reggiano, cooked meat and Mortadella Bologna. A dish consumed on holidays since the Middle Ages, due to its rich and refined ingredients and typically eaten in broth as a Christmas first course.
These are the typical sweets of the holidays: Pandoro from Verona, soft and soft, or Panettone from Milan, with raisins and candied fruit, but also made in many different variations (for example without raisins or candied fruit, but with chocolate chips) < strong> are the classic desserts which, accompanied by a glass of sparkling wine or champagne, close Christmas and New Year's meals.
Other typical sweets of this period, eaten at the end of the meal together with chocolate, pandoro and panettone, are based on honey and sugar, then stuffed with almonds, but also with walnuts, peanuts, hazelnuts. The nougat and the almond are precisely the classics at the end of the Christmas period, very sweet but with a crunchy consistency. Torrone has a very ancient tradition, which dates back to Roman times. The almond is instead born in the Cologna Veneta area (in the province of Verona) at the time of the Most Serene Republic of Venice: a typical dessert with a centuries-old history!
Egg liqueur with an intense and particular taste , it is consumed mainly during the Christmas period, especially at the end of a meal. It dates back to very distant times its presence is witnessed at least since the Middle Ages in Italy, but it is widespread also in the Anglo-Saxon world (the famous eggnog, very similar to the Italian zabaglione).
The perfect sparkling wines to celebrate Christmas together or the arrival of midnight and the new year. Millions of hectoliters are consumed every year, both from our own Spumante and from French Champagne. Bubbles are ideal for following dessert and to toast in company, but in reality they are good to accompany the whole meal (if based on raw fish, for example).
How to start a Christmas dinner or dinner if not with a robust appetizer? Especially in some regions this is; one of the main moments of the meal, for which the appetizer has many typical foods ; last but not least, a vast selection of cold cuts, from the area but not only. We therefore find hams, cooked and raw (such as Parma and San Daniele), coppa, culatello, Bologna mortadella, the many different types of salami (felino, condito, cacciatore, salamella), speck and other traditional cured meats .
The main course of the Christmas lunch varies according to tradition and geographical area one of the most widespread is always the stuffed capon roast. Typical of the Emilian tradition, a dish widespread throughout Italy, perfect for celebrating sumptuousness of family celebrations.
Fish-based dishes are consumed especially during the Christmas Eve dinner , but they can also be an excellent base for the New Year's Eve dinner; from appetizers based on fish to the typical capitone of southern cuisine, passing through delicacies; elaborate and refined such as bottarga, which Maletti also proposes for its baskets.