Pre-Christmas meditations under the Neapolitan tree

And in Italy in November begins preparations for a multi-day marathon of Christmas holidays. The festive illumination of the streets is installed, Christmas markets are installed, sweets are purchased. The newspapers already estimate how many people will suffer from fireworks this year.

That's right on the eve of another occasion + no, of course, I did not mean - a reason to drink! For example, another reason to enjoy the change of the calendar, I propose to talk about the national features of the Naples Christmas and New Year holidays.

 

Most importantly, what do they cook and eat?

 

The general scheme of the local celebration of Christmas is not too different from our usual folklore version: lean dinner with the family on the eve of the crucial moment of the birth of the Child and diligent absorption of meat dishes on another day. Then - the hard work of digesting the above, rest and preparation for the New Year.

So, everything in order.

What is the table for Holy Eve? Of course, pasta, which means pasta! But given the importance of the moment, this very pasta should be two or three kinds. Different shapes and shapes, under different sauces. For example, mussels or other creatures of marine origin. Fish and shellfish are not considered creatures that are sinful to eat, so Neapolitans ruthlessly consume on the night before Christmas a huge number of octopuses, squid, cuttlefish, oysters, and other representatives of the underwater kingdom. A special place of honor on the festive table among all these relatives of Neptune is occupied by sea eels and the famous in Naples "baccala" - dry salt cod.

And, of course, vegetables. But! No potatoes, cabbages and buracheks, to which the Slavic soul (or rather, the stomach) is so used. The plant world is presented at the Christmas dinner with spinach, broccoli, artichokes, asparagus and other types of greenery, the names of which are simply impossible to find in the Italian-Russian dictionary.

Such a lean dinner, frankly, is not cheap. It used to be considered food for the poor. And now all seafood (and so expensive) before Christmas rise twice or three times. Some species of fish or shellfish can cost up to 30-50 euros per kilogram. At this table sits the average Neapolitan family. They eat slowly, talking. They drink little, as, by the way, on all holidays, everyone pours himself how much and what he wants.

I remember my first Christmas in Naples when my friend and I were invited to an Italian family. Having tried a little pasta (also me, a festive dish!) and fearfully pinching off the sea monsters that stretched their tentacles from the plate, we politely froze at the table, not knowing where to go. The owner of the house, noticing our confusion, loudly proclaimed: "If you want wine, take what you like!" This sudden display of attention completely knocked us off track. Where is it seen that a self-respecting woman, and even in an unfamiliar company, will reach across the table for a bottle to pour herself!

Our Ukrainian neighbors laughed when we came home hungry and pounced on potatoes and borscht!

The Christmas dinner ends with nuts - walnuts, forest, almonds, peanuts. And also, dry fruits - figs, dried apricots, dates. Mandarins and oranges are not served, here they are the cheapest, everyday fruits. And also typical Christmas sweets: struffoli - a rollercoaster sprinkled small peas of sand dough, mixed with honey. And, of course, panettone - a large muffin with raisins and candied fruit, sometimes watered with chocolate.

 

Italian Santa Claus by Babbo Natale

 

Some 30 - 40 years ago in Italy it was not customary to put a Christmas tree. This custom came here from the north of Europe with a bearded man in red robe - Babbo Natale, suspiciously similar to the overseas Santa Claus. Babbo Natale can be translated as Father Christmas or Father Christmas. The role of the Christmas tree in Naples can successfully replace the ficus, cactus or palm tree. Fortunately, the evergreen flora here - in abundance. Even the name of this Christmas hybrid of frosty holiday and warm Italy is translated not as "New Year's tree", but as "Christmas tree".

In one of the galleries, in the center of Naples, a tree is installed every year. And it is decorated by all who wish special notes - requests to Babbo Natala. The whole tree is covered with written leaves. Whatever requests you read on these notes!

Childish naive: "Dear Babbo Natale!" Bring health to my grandmother, and I have plenty of chocolate!

Adults naive: "Give me back my beloved Roberto, who is so distant from me!"

Ideologically sustained: Dear Babbo Natale! I ask you to remove immediately from Naples 1 Camorra and all Camorrists, 2 Mayor of Naples Rosa Iervolino.

Frankly adults: My name is Lorenzo, 23 years old. I ask Babbo Natale to find me a pretty girl with a big bust. My phone: +."

How they say, what dreams, such requests.

 

Other characters: Befana and Prezepe.

 

If the Christmas tree appeared in the everyday life of Italians relatively recently, then the custom of installing a prezepe is typically Neapolitan, dating back more than one century. Prezepe is somewhat reminiscent of our Ukrainian nativity. Only the biblical scenes in the prezep are depicted with the help of miniature figurines made of ceramics, wood, porcelain, and now of plastic. Almost every Neapolitan family on the eve of Christmas begins to arrange somewhere in the corner of the room, or on the mantelpiece of such figures scenes of the birth of Christ with mandatory characters - the Child, Mary, Joseph, Eastern kings with gifts. Classic biblical stories can be supplemented by a myriad of other participants: shepherds with sheep, peasants, traders in fruits, greens, fish. Around can be located images of urban residents who drink coffee, bake pizza, trade in the bazaar, engage in crafts. All dolls must be dressed in the manner of the eighteenth century, and clothes can be very expensive, made of ancient fabrics, jewelry made.

Now the prezepe is arranged not only in houses, but also in churches, in large shops, in covered galleries. It has become a tradition in Naples to come with the whole family to admire these peculiar works of art. You can look at large prezepes for hours, because the number of figures in them can reach several thousand, and all this colorful action occupies the area of a large room. Characters can move thanks to miniature electric motors, illuminated by tiny light bulbs, murmuring water in small fountains and waterfalls.

Now let's meet Befana. This is an Italian relative of our Baba Yaga. She flies on a broomstick like any self-respecting witch, according to external data, too, has not gone far from world standards - old, dressed in rags. But that's where her resemblance to the other witches' offspring ends! Befana is an extremely cheerful, cheerful and, most importantly, a kind witch. Her role in the Christmas holidays - on the night of the fifth to the sixth of January to deliver gifts to all children and put them in a stocking. As a rule, it is sweets, candy, small money. All this is supposed to be good and obedient children. But for those who are fined, pieces of coal are also attached to the stocking. Not a punishment, but a hint! Italy's modern candy industry monopolized this duty of good old Befana. Before the holidays, colorful stockings with a set of sweets are sold everywhere, and even with black candy, in the form of coals.

 

How I celebrated New Year in Italian.

 

Directly New Year in Italy celebrate + well, somehow + not our way.

I was invited to a large Italian family for a New Year’s Eve. I changed my clothes and hair a hundred times. I should have represented my country before foreigners! And at the appointed time, I, in full parade, tuned for the all-night festivities, showed up for this party. To my greatest surprise, I saw only the oldest part of a large family. All young people under forty years old, it turns out, have long gone to night bars. Having eaten well, as you guessed, of course, pasta, slightly washed down with dry wine, this prefabricated nursing home, barely waiting for midnight, opened a lonely bottle of champagne, took a sip and began to travel home together. Sleep.

On the street at this time, a cannonade of fireworks thundered, covering the whole of Naples with a smoke screen, as if the city was covered by enemy bombardment. I saw this only in the Soviet film Liberation in the scene of the storming of Berlin.

And this year, my friends and I will celebrate the New Year in the best traditions of the past: we will cut the basin of Olivier, twist the doves, celebrate the New Year first in Russian time, then in Ukrainian, and then in Italian. And then we'll play a tape of Carnival Night and Irony of Fate.

That's it!

And then think about how to celebrate the New Year in Chinese. Maybe a Chinese restaurant?

 

If anyone is going to spend a Catholic Christmas in the south of Italy, welcome to Salerno (60 km from Naples)! Here literally the other day solemnly included festive illumination throughout the city. The streets of the old city, the city park and the pedestrian zone are literally buried in the lights. This year, the theme of colorful glowing panels is “Space, planets and constellations”. From all over Italy come to see this splendor tourists.