Italy

In Italy the Christmas table starts on Christmas Eve with a meatless dinner, the Vigilia di magro, a custom rooted in the Catholic rule of abstaining from meat on December 24. Baccalà, salt cod, is typical. Christmas lunch is the richer meal: in many central and southern homes Lasagne al Forno, prepared a day ahead, sits at its center, while northern families serve Tortellini in Brodo before the heavier courses. Sweets are often bought, not made, and a boxed Panettone is a common gift to colleagues and neighbors. In Naples, a platter of honey-coated Struffoli stays on the table for days.

The Italian chapter leans on the beans, cabbage and pork of the cold months. Ribollita, the reheated Tuscan soup of beans, cavolo nero and bread, is made after frost has softened the cabbage, and pasta e fagioli became a winter staple in Veneto. Cassoeula, pork and savoy cabbage served with polenta, belongs to the feast of Sant'Antonio Abate on January 17, which closed the pig-slaughter season. Bagna càuda is a shared meal of the Piedmont winter, pizzoccheri an Alpine dish built on winter stores, and polenta e salsiccia a farmhouse plate. Castagnaccio uses the new season's chestnut flour, and chiacchiere are fried for Carnival.

The Italian menu starts with Carpaccio di Manzo, paper-thin raw beef fillet that Giuseppe Cipriani created at Harry's Bar in Venice in 1950, here over arugula with Grana Padano, capers, lemon and olive oil. The main course is Risotto ai Funghi Porcini, made with dried porcini and finished off the heat with cold butter and cheese. Dessert is Baci di Dama, hazelnut cookies from Tortona whose name, lady's kisses, describes their shape.

The Italian menu gathers the Easter food of Rome, Naples, Genoa and Sicily. In Naples, pastiera is baked on Holy Thursday, March 25, 2027, and rests until Easter Sunday, while casatiello, a bread with salami and whole eggs, is prepared on Good Friday and eaten from Holy Saturday through the Easter Monday picnic. Rome sets pizza di Pasqua, a tall cheese bread, on the Easter breakfast table, and on Easter Sunday, March 28, serves brodetto pasquale, an egg-lemon broth, and abbacchio, roast young lamb, with carciofi alla romana still in season. Genoa bakes torta pasqualina, and Sicily its cassata.