Christmas foods

Italy has a rich gastronomic tradition, envied by all other countries. Each region has its own traditions and customs that are handed down from generation to generation and sometimes re-proposed with a touch of modernity. The Christmas season is particularly rich in typical foods and we at Spaghetti and Mandolino have collected in this section all the delicacies typically consumed during this period, produced only by the best Italian companies. Discover them all below!

Christmas food: some of the most typical proposals

In first place, as a symbolic dish of the Christmas holidays, lentils are undoubtedly placed. Already in Roman times they were known for their properties (they are in fact rich in vitamins and iron) and were consumed on the first day of the year as a symbol of good omen. In the past, it was even customary to give away a purse full of lentils on December 31. The belief that this legume brings luck and well-being derives mainly from its shape, which recalls that of gold coins, especially once cooked, as they increase in volume and thus suggest growth

Along with lentils, we often find cotechino or zampone, cooked pork sausages typical of Northern Italy combined. Both contain meat, fat and rind ground with salt, spices and wine. The only difference between the two lies in their shell: the paw is covered with a pig's foot, while the cotechino is placed in the gut. Among the various cotechini we offer the pre-cooked organic one from Salumificio Pedrazzoli, the first Italian sausage factory to produce organic cold cuts. Cotechino and zampone are fatty foods, a characteristic that in the past made them symbols of opulence and prosperity, so they are

Finally, the sweetness of nougat and almond cake is ideal for celebrating the Christmas holidays all together. Based on honey and sugar, these are filled with almonds but also with walnuts, peanuts, hazelnuts. Like lentils, nougat also originated in Roman times, while almond was born in Venetian Cologna, at the time of the Serenissima

Pandoro and Panettone: the symbolic sweets of the Christmas season

At Christmas, pandoro and panettone are unmissable desserts on all Italian tables.

The pandoro is linked in particular to the figure of Cangrande Della Scala, an art and culture enthusiast who protected various political refugees and artists, including Dante Alighieri. Pandoro was thus born in this historical-cultural context, then known by the name “nadalin”. It is said that the chef of the Scaligeri family, to celebrate the family's first Christmas in the lordship of Verona, created nadalin, a low star-shaped dessert covered with icing and stuffed with raisins and pine

Modern pandoro, on the other hand, was designed by Domenico Melegatti, who revisited the ancient recipe by removing icing, raisins and pine nuts (since they prevented the cake from growing) to add butter, yeast and more eggs. The name Pandoro was patented by Melegatti himself, referring to the ancient tradition of the nobles to cover bread with

The panettone, on the other hand, is linked to the leader Ludovico il Moro of the Sforza family. Thanks to him, the city of Milan flourished particularly until it became, in the Renaissance, a real cultural reference point. He is also remembered for being one of the patrons of Leonardo da Vinci, to whom he commissioned the famous painting “The Last Supper”. Legend has it that the Sforza family cook accidentally burned the dessert intended for the banquet. Toni, one of the collaborators, used his personal yeast (it was a rather rare substance at the time) to create a completely new dessert, with flour, eggs, sugar, candied fruit and raisins, vigorously mixing the mixture several times.

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