HOW TO CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS, ITALIAN-STYLE
In Italy, there are as many ways of celebrating the holidays as there are towns and villages. Luckily for Montrealers, the culinary traditions from many of them can be found at Milano Fruiterie, the popular Italian grocery store and cucina in Little Italy.
“I was born here but my father is from Abruzzo, which is in la Provincia dell’Aquila, a little area in the mountains with a castle,” said Mario Zaurrini, who, with his sister Celia, now runs the family business that their father and uncle opened over 60 years ago. “My father’s Christmas tradition was some pasta and a good salad.”
Here are five traditional Christmas foods that can be found at Milano this holiday season.
PrePared meals
“We make a lot of dishes here for Christmas, like osso buco, traditional lasagna — which is a little different all over Italy — spaghetti with meatballs and pizza with plain red tomato sauce,” Zaurrini said.
Milano is equipped with a fully functional kitchen that prepares a variety of authentic family recipes on a daily basis.
lamb
Milano starts taking orders for fresh, milk-fed lamb from Quebec, weeks ahead of the holidays, and brings them in for pick-up the week before Christmas. Italians generally mark Christmas Eve, or cena della Vigilia, with a seafood dinner before celebrating Christmas with what Zaurrini refers to as “the lamb of God.”
Pagnotta
A traditional Italian round bread which is sometimes baked with a hole in its centre, pagnotta is widely recognized as Italy’s daily bread. There’s even an old saying that goes, “Today I have earned my pagnotta.” Zaurrini likens it to an Italian donut.
Cannoli
Milano carries a wide assortment of Italian desserts and pastries, including its homemade cannoli. Cannoli are enjoyed all over Italy (and the world!), but they originally hail from Sicily.
Panettone
While panettone originated in Milan, it has become the country’s national holiday staple. A sweet bread loaf made with raisins, the dessert can stay fresh for up to eight months if unopened.
For more information, visit milanofruiterie.com.