Christmas on the table, typical dishes of Northern Italy

Christmas is the party that gives more joy: in the eyes of children and adults shines the joy for the most traditional holiday of the year. You buy gifts, you decorate the tree, you walk through the streets of your city between colorful lights and Christmas songs in the background. In short, a very exciting time of year that is also celebrated through food, particularly rich and often special.

Starting from the regions of northern Italy, here is a small journey through the typical Christmas dishes that, between a laugh and a toast, cheer up the days spent with family or friends dearest.

It starts from Friuli Venezia Giulia, where Christmas becomes even more characteristic for the presence of snow that allows fans to ski even at high altitude. The Friulian Christmas menu usually includes:

toc in braide: an appetizer based on polenta and a sauce (the toc) of cheese fondue;
cjarson: soft wheat ravioli filled with raisins, pine nuts, dark chocolate, spinach and cinnamon;
Jota: a soup made from beans, potatoes and sauerkraut;
brovade and muset: a pork cotechino boiled and accompanied by brovada, that is a side of turnips macerated in the pomace and seasoned with aromatic herbs;
Triestine goulash: of Hungarian origin, is a dish of meat, lard, fried onions and carrots, tomato sauce and paprika usually accompanied by polenta or mashed potatoes;
gubana: it is the dessert par excellence of Friuli, shaped like a snail, filled with walnuts, pine nuts, raisins, figs and prunes and flavored with orange and lemon peel;
putizza: another very common sweet, consists of a sweet focaccia rolled up on itself, flavored with rum and filled with dried fruit and cinnamon;
presnitz: sweet typical of Trieste, it is a thin dough filled with candied fruit, dried fruit and rum.

Fonte: dal web

Then we move on to Trentino Alto Adige, where the local culinary tradition embraces those of the neighboring borders, ranging between Austria and Hungary. Among the typical dishes of Christmas include:

tritlan: an appetizer made of rye flour pancakes and wheat flour stuffed with ricotta and potatoes;
Knodel: a first course made with very simple ingredients, that is stale bread, eggs and milk flavored with onion, bacon, chives and local cheeses and served in broth;
casunziei: crescent-shaped ravioli filled with red turnip and potato puree and served with melted butter, parmesan and poppy seeds;
deer in juniper sauce: suitable for meat lovers, who can combine the intense flavor of deer with the characteristic aroma of juniper or, alternatively, berries;
meat salada: consists of meat scalded in hot oil and seasoned with salt, pepper and parsley, then served hot with beans;
strudel: the sweet made with crunchy dough filled with apples, raisins, pine nuts and cinnamon is inevitable during the Christmas period;
zelten: a particular sweet bread made with flour, eggs, sugar, butter and yeast, enriched with nuts, dried figs, almonds, pine nuts, grapes and candied cedar and flavored with cinnamon, rum, anise and cloves;
Strauben: they are small Tyrolean pancakes with a “nest” shape, served with a dusting of powdered sugar, whipped cream and blueberry jam.

Fonte: dal web

We continue our journey through snowy landscapes and high altitudes, with the Aosta Valley, which for the Christmas holidays traditionally offers:

duck pate with orange: an appetizer made of breast and duck liver enriched with Lard d’Arnad PDO;
seupa alla valpellinentze: a soup with wholemeal bread, boiled or stewed cabbage leaves, fontina cheese and meat broth flavored with pepper and nutmeg;
capriolo alla valdostana: the meat is marinated in red wine and flavored with juniper, laurel and thyme and then cooked in a pan;
carbonade valdostana: a second dish of beef and pork preserved in salt and stewed over low heat together with onions, red wine and herbs;
Mont Blanc: it is the Valdostan dessert par excellence, made with chestnut and cocoa puree or dark chocolate, then covered with whipped cream;
pandolce di Cogne: similar to sweet Ligurian panettone, stuffed with raisins flavored with rum;
Micooula di Champorcher: another sweet made with wheat, rye and chestnut flour enriched with dried figs, raisins and chocolate chips depending on local variations.

Fonte: dal web

From the Aosta Valley you pass in Veneto, where Christmas turns into pure magic not only in the street, but also and above all on the table! For the holidays are served:

grilled polenta with sausage: a must-have appetizer made with grilled polenta slices, served with roasted Luganega sausage and sautéed mushrooms;
sarde in saor: a typical Venetian dish, made with sardines seasoned with onion, vinegar, raisins and pine nuts;
boiled beef al cren: a boiled beef accompanied by a sauce based on horseradish and mashed potatoes;
almond: a traditional sweet made with honey, sugar, egg white and almonds.

Fonte: dal web

Leaving the Alps and snowy mountains behind you go to Lombardy, which at Christmas is not only panettone, on the contrary, it is much more:

Cremona mustard: present in all Lombard appetizers to accompany local meats and cheeses;
ribs in salad: another appetizer made from beef cartilage, which are cooked in water with carrots, celery and coarse salt and then served with onion and beans;
pumpkin tortelli: typical mantovani, served with butter, sage and parmesan;
casoncelli alla bergamasca: another stuffed pasta served, this time, with capon broth;
stuffed capon: a kind of meat loaf made of minced meat, eggs, grana and mortadella accompanied by stewed lentils;
Panettone: it is obviously the typical and inevitable dessert in all of Lombardy, often accompanied by sbrisolona cake, bignolata and mascarpone cream.

Fonte: dal web

Let’s now move on to Piedmont , which already normally presents a rich and varied cuvcina and that for the Christmas holidays offers delicious dishes to say the least:

peppers with bagna cauda: a typical Piedmontese appetizer, based on raw or cooked vegetables accompanied by bagna cauda, the traditional sauce prepared with oil, garlic and anchovies;
language in sauce: it is the language of veal, accompanied by the classic Piedmontese green sauce based on oil, parsley, garlic and vinegar;
agnolotti del plin: fresh pasta similar to tortellini stuffed with meat and seasoned with the sauce of the roast;
tajarin with porcini mushrooms: egg pasta, similar to tagliatelle, seasoned with porcini mushrooms, garlic and parsley;
braised in Barolo: a second dish of meat marinated in Barolo accompanied by mashed or boiled vegetables;
stuffed capon: a kind of meat loaf stuffed with chestnuts, pork and Bra sausage;
cup of Seirass: a dessert spoon prepared with ricotta (seirass), eggs, sugar, whipped cream and Marsala;
bignole: another typical dessert, these are small flavors of yeast dough filled with custard;
bonet: a chocolate-based pudding, rum and macaroons.

Fonte: dal web

You begin to “go down” and, above all, to glimpse the sea with Liguria. In a mild and sunny climate, the Christmas holidays are celebrated with dishes based on:

fugàssa: the typical Genoese focaccia, thin and fragrant, served natural or enriched with olives, onion, cheese and/ or anchovies;
zeraria: an appetizer consisting of a kind of beef jelly, accompanied by a broth flavored with bay leaf, saffron and lemon;
natalini in broth: long pasta served in capon broth;
ravioli with tuccu: fresh pasta filled with endive, borage, escarole, marjoram, lean pork veal, veal brain and sweetbreads, served with a sauce of minced beef, mushrooms, spices, tomato and red wine;
croxetti with pesto: medallions of fresh egg pasta seasoned with pesto alla genovese;
turkey sturgeon: a simple and tasty second course made of turkey covered with ham, lemon and bay leaves, boiled with herbs and vegetables;
fried sticks: popular throughout Liguria, consist of a fried mixture of veal meat, mushrooms, artichokes and sweetbreads skewered and breaded with eggs and breadcrumbs;
sweet bread: similar to panettone, but lower and crumbly, stuffed with raisins, pine nuts, candied fruit, anise and fennel.

Fonte: dal web

We finally arrive in Emilia Romagna, where food is a real protagonist of the local culture and tradition. And on the occasion of Christmas he manages to give his best:

fried dumpling: accompanies the local meats and consists of a dough of flour, water, yeast, lard and salt;
tortellini or cappelletti or anolini in broth: they are the three most famous fresh pasta of Emilia Romagna, filled in the most varied ways but all served categorically in broth with a splash of Parmesan;
ravioli of herbs or pumpkin: a fresh pasta filled with ricotta and herbs or pumpkin, seasoned with butter or meat sauce;
zampone and cotechino: produced in Modena and protected by the PGI mark, they are two real Christmas symbols, served with lentils, stewed beans or mashed potatoes;
panone bolognese: a cake similar to panettone stuffed with chocolate, candied fruit, dried fruit, jam or mustard;
pampepato ferrarese: another typical dessert based on dark chocolate, almonds, orange peel, honey and candied fruit;
spongata di Brescello e Busseto: a shortcrust pastry filled with honey, almonds, pine nuts, candied fruit, cedar and raisins;
Christmas biscuit: a sweet made with almonds, sugar, eggs and candied fruit in the shape of a dragon or snake.