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My Christmas holiday start when the school finishes, so on the 23 of December. I usually stay in Novara, only on the 25 of december I move to Arona to celebrate with my uncles, where we have lunch together and then we go to walk in the city centre. On the 31 of December I normally spend the end of the year with my friends having dinner and wait for midnight. When I was a child I used to celebrate the epiphany with the socks and candies but now I don't because I don't enjoy it so much.

The tradition of my family is to prepare always the lasagna for Christmas with some appetizers and main courses that change every year. On the end of the year I usually eat lentils to wish me luck for the new year.

One of my child's memory is that I have always helped my mom to prepare the appetizers before the Christmas lunch and I enjoyed doing it.

The Cristhmas has always been an occasion to meet all my relatives.

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For me Christmas starts on December 24, when me and my family, and family friends have dinner the menu usually includes croutons of different types, salmon tartare, risotto with basil cream and robiola cheese, after these there are the prawns the Argentines baked, and finally the dough with mascarpone cream and rum the next day, we spend it at my mother’s brother’s house,  along with my relatives and relatives on my aunt’s side. Then we celebrate December 26 at the home of my mother’s cousin, the menu consists of several courses and lunch starts around 13:00 and ends by 16:00
And nothing, this is a mini description of how to celebrate Christmas at Gatti's home.

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On Christmas Eve, I wake up arround 7 a.m. and I start preparing the desserts with my family such as "rabanadas", "molotov", "sonhos", "aletria" and many others. After that I play games and watch movies with my brother then my family and I go to my grand mother's house and there we eat cod, octapus, " queijo da serra" and "pão-de-ló".
At the midnight se Open the presents.

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At my house at christmas we eat coldfish, a letria, leite-creme, rabanadas, pão-de-ló, torta de noz, bolo-rei and nuts.
The decorations in my house are the christmas tree, with the lights, some balls to decorate and a star a the free a santa claus on the door of the house, and another one in the living room.
I spend christmas with my parents, my sister, my brother-in-law and my nephew.
On christmas eve, during the day, we buy what is missing, make sweets, prepare codfish and have dinner with the family.
Then at midnight we open the presents, we talk after opening the presents, and then we go to sleep. On the 25th we wake up late, have lunch, watch movies in the afternoon and then eat farrapo velho for dinner.

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On Christmas Eve my mother, my brother,  and I have dinner at my maternal grandparents’ house.
Se always decorate the house with a Christmas tree  that se decorate together.
We usually eat cod with boiled potatoes and cabbage, and for those who don’t like it, it’s boiled potatoes and octopus and for dessert “rabanadas”, “bolo-rei”, “pão-de-ló”, “aletria”, “sonhos”, “pudim” e “leite de creme”.

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Ou christmas Eve my Family gets together and and we have cod to dinner and we have a lot of desserts after dinner we play a lot of games

On Christmas day we have ate lunch lamb and we play games

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In the Christmas Eve and Christmas day my family is about being together and we play games like monopoly, uno and card games.
On the Christmas Eve the main dishes are boiled cod fish and boiled octopus with boiled potatoes and the desserts are "pão de lo", "bolo-rei", "leite de creme", "aletria, nuts and other things.
On the Christmas day we we eat the leftovers from the Christmas eve and lamb with rice and potatoes.

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Here, we mostly celebrate Christmas on the 24th, Christmas Eve, at night. My mom makes most of the food we eat. First, I have a normal dinner with my whole family. We eat some sort of meat most of us enjoy, those who don't eat something else. We don't eat cod, even though it's typical to eat that in Portugal. Then we have a variety of desserts, like "Bolo Rei", "Sonhos", "Rabanadas", "Aletria" and more delicious plates, like cakes. Later on, we open the presents. If it isn't too late, we can just watch TV or check out the things we got for Christmas.

On Christmas day, we normally eat a big lunch or eat out in a restaurant, if we find one that is open, which is rare on Christmas. In the afternoon, we play board games, like "Bingo" and "Monopoly", and watch some movies. We also eat the leftovers from the previous day. There are also some people that go to a religious celebration called "Missa do galo" and other traditions, but I don't really celebrate them.

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On Christmas eve and on Christmas day I stay with my family. We have a typical decoration like a Christmas tree. We eat cod and boiled potatoes, for dessert we have "rabanadas", "bolo-rei", "pão-de-ló", nuts, "leite creme", "aletria" etc... After dinner we play bingo, monopoly and cards.

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On Christmas Eve I'm with my family in my grandparents' house with some simple decorations like a classic Christmas tree and some lights outside the house. We get there in the afternoon and play "Bingo" with them until dinner. At dinner we eat cod and then some desserts like "Bolo-Rei" and "Rabanadas". At midnight we open the presents. On the next day we usually eat "farrapo-velho" or Lamb. We play "Bingo" again and then my parents and I go home

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Christmas habits and traditions - Mário Oliveira 

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Christmas habits and traditions - Mário Oliveira 

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At my house, for Christmas dinner we eat codfish and octopus and for dessert "rabanadas", "bolo-rei" and "pão de ló". The decorations I use in my house are the Christmas with the family that lives in my house, which is my mother, my father, my older brother and my younger brother. On Christmas Eve my family and I prepare things for dinner and after Christmas at midnight we open presents and on Christmas day we use leftovers from the day before and eat "farrapo velho".

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On Christmas day I eat rice , meat and potatoes and salad I spend Christmas  day with my family.
I go to my uncle's house on the 25 th .
For dessert we usually eat "rabanadas","bolo rei ".
But I don't really like Christmas .
I just like the part about the parties

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I don't have many Christmas habits but I will explain, with my family that is in portugal we have dinner where we eat cod fish, potatoes and a lot of desserts like " aletria" " leite creme " on the Christmas Eve I normaly take a nap waiting for midnight when we open the presents. On Christmas day we have lunch together, "farapo velho" and some meat and spend the rest of the day together playing some games.

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Here in Portugal my family and i join on Christmas Eve. For the dinner we eat some very delicious food made by my mom, my grandmother and i. The stars of the night are cod and octopus; the cod is served with potatoes, onions, cabbage and of course olive oil. The octopus is served with what we call "molho verde" (garlic, parsley, olive oil and vinegar).
For dessert we have "torta de noz", "rabanadas", "leite creme", "aletria", "estrela de chocolate", "sonhos" and "rabanadas de abóbora".
We open the presents at midnight and we only open the presents when everybody has their own present.
On Christmas Day we have lunch together and we eat "farrapo velho", meat and the desserts.
After lunch we spend the day doing things together like playing cards, cluedo, monopoly and other family games.

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I spend xmas with my dad, mom, brother and grandma.
On Christmas Eve we always eat cod with boiled potatoes and cabbage.
Then at midnight we eat the sweets and open our presents.
On the 25th we eat roasted piglet and our traditional "rabanadas" and "bolo rei".
After lunch on the 25th we watch movies together in the afternoon, and for dinner we have "farrapo velho" made with the cod leftovers.
I really enjoy xmas because I can enjoy this special time with my family and friends.
Merry Christmas for everybody!

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my christmas starts on the 24th evening where we have family dinner we usually eat fish and seafood.  then we wait for midnight where greetings are made and presents are opened. During the holidays I stay at home and friends come so we stay together we usually cook together or play video games because it's very cold outside.🌲🎁
this coming christmas will be a new experience because i will be alone with friends at my house.🎁🎄

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On christmas day, usually me and my family gathers around the table for lunch and dinner, then in the afternoon we play bingo, and the night after the dinner we sing all together. This year maybe we’ll going to Sardinia, to celebrate with the other RELATIVES

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In Christmas i will play fut champions,because i won't go to my grandparents in Naples and we will spend christmas with my family.
My mum usually make the Struffoli (it’s a typical christmas pudding),at the dinner on December 24th we always eat fish and at lunch on december 25th we eat the meat.
Some days I spend it with my girlfriend and we exchange gifts
Giancarlo Zecchino

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For me, the Christmas holidays are normal days when you don't go to school. during the holidays i go out with my friends we go skating, play football

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in my house it is customary to build a Christmas tree all together in the family, every year we put a playlist with all the Christmas songs, we use the gifts to open on the eve at midnight after having a super dinner all together in the family, I I love surprises and gifts, Christmas makes me very happy and I love celebrating it especially because we cook many different sweets and savory things, apart from this, ideas for making Christmas gifts?

MARTINA CONTARTESE

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Christmas I spend at my grandparents' house, along with my uncles, my cousin and my parents every little family brings a different dish, for me Christmas is to be together eat my aunt’s lasagna and my mom’s roast and has lunch end eat pandoro with mascarpone cream playing bingo of which now I am an undisputed champion and throw us beans that we use to mark the boxes and open gifts all at once.

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on christmas day as soon as i wake up i open the presents with my family, and then i prepare lunch with the help of my father, to then celebrate with my grandparents.  on vacation days I relax playing warzone

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At christmas i have a family dinner we usually eat lasagna, breaded meat and arancini. Afterhours dinner we play cards and bingo waiting for midnight to toast and open the presents. After wich we continue playning cards and finally we go to sleep.
Sfalanga joseph

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on my christmas day i usually wake up on christmas morning around 12:00 pm as i met my friends the day before to celebrate the end of school.
anyway for Christmas I always meet with the closest relatives so uncles and grandmothers where in a nutshell we kill each other with food, after lunch we play monopoly and all or card games all this until 15:00 after all the games I see myself with my friends and my friends' parents to wish them well, in the evening I have dinner with other relatives and when I get back I open the presents and go to sleep right after

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My Christmas ❄️
on the 24th I wake up at 08:00
after getting washed and dressed I go out and have a
walk with my dog ​​🐶; when I get home I start preparing lunch for the whole family.
in the afternoon I watch a zombie movie with a friend,
in the evening we eat the dinner my mother has prepared.
on the 25th i wake up and unwrap presents with my brother
shortly after we have lunch and in the afternoon I start reading a book about Horses.
then I go out for dinner with friends.
on the 31st we leave for the mountains where we spend the New Year's Eve in a beautiful hotel, the evening usually begins with a dinner with cotechino (a type of sausage) and lentils.
then there will be a fireworks show.

Mery Christmas!!! ❄️

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I still don’t know what I’m gonna do at Christmas, so I’m gonna tell you what I think I’m doing🙂.
in the morning I will make a hearty breakfast and then I will go out with my dog Ares hoping we'll find the snow as I love to make snowmen❄️.
in the afternoon I will prepare some ginger cookies and soak them in hot tea while watching netflix ☕️🍪.
towards evening I will begin to prepare for dinner; I will go to a good restaurant with my family; And finally before we say goodbye we will exchange gifts🎁.
My favorite thing about Christmas is to put up the Christmas tree, put the lights on the balcony and put a Christmas sweater on my cat, here are some photos.
Irene grigoletto.

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On Christmas i love to be with my family and friend.
In Italy, my mom make lasagna, and veal with tuna sauce.
We put up the tree the 8 of december
We reunite together to eat,: my mom,grandmother aunt and some family friends.
We play some family games like monopoli and we have fun.
Then we go to sleep and in the morning we open the gifts.
We eat pandoro and panettone - typical  sweets from Italy.
In conclusion, i like to have fun with my family and friends.
But i love more the gifts lol😐
Alessio Ferrari

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for christmas i prepare the dinner and have lunch for me and my family, we open the gifts on 25th at midnight. Christmas in Italy is so intersting because we decorate all the city, also the stores choose a theme for Christmas. We usually eat lasagna, meat and biscuits together with all my family.
Joel Formica

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On Christmas morning as soon as I get up I go to wake up my parents to tell them to wake up (because I'm still a child) to open the presents as soon as I've finished opening the presents we start preparing to cook almost all day (because my mother and I love to cook sooo much that we often argue together in the kitchen) and I study at a hospitality school and I chose to specialise in cooking, so as soon as I hear the word "kitchen" I immediately jump into preparing everything.
At Christmas I especially like cooking while listening to some Christmas music, and my soundtrack is Christmas Eve.
This is my Christmas day

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At christmas i wake up very early and i don't know why, but i usually wake up at five in the morning and after two hours i wake everyone up.
During the party at my house we are used to having a lunch bigger than in a restaurant, in fact this Christmas we're going to prepare a lot of appetizers: smoked salmon, mayonnaise and rocket roll, a Christmas trees made with puff pastry and bresaola, olives and cucumbers, Russian salad; as a main course we're going to have lasagna.
As an Italian-style second course we make black pudding, roast, meatloaf and side dish a salad with tomato, peppers, cucumbers, olives, onions.
For dessert there is panettone, pandoro with mascarpone and my cake which are a delight for the palate.
In the afternoon, Christmas presents are opened at our house, and we usually celebrate with grandparents, uncles and aaunts. Maybe this year we will celebrate Christmas with friends, but I'm not sure.
It's a merry Christmas everyone

Lorenzo Zanetta

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I spend Christmas with my family, this Christmas I will spend with all my foster family. we prepare the Christmas biscuits and prepare lunch, when we are all at the table we joke and talk, the Christmas lunch is based on fish and in the evening we give presents. at dinner we are all together and watch Christmas movies. Christmas is important to me this year because I'll spend it with my foster family and I feel very good and serene and above all I'll spend it with the most important people in my life. Christmas is spending time in harmony with your most important people and feeling good

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On Christmas day I wake up early and go immediately to open the presents with my family.
Christmas dinner is an important tradition in my family because we all get together and celebrate.
My favorite time is Christmas Eve because I do the hot cocoa movie marathon and that's my favorite thing.

Pavan giada

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On Christmas Eve I usually wake up in the afternoon and start preparations just after lunch
After lunch I help to prepare the room for dinner and start preparing Christmas foods like cod and desserts. After dinner, we watch TV while we wait until midnight to open the gifts
On the 25th I wake up at lunchtime that is usually roast turkey.

Francisco Portugal

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I love Christmas!
On Christmas Eve, in the early afternoon, my family starts by making desserts. Towards the end of the afternoon, it's time to organize things for dinner and start preparing it. Around 20h00 we start having dinner, then we clean up the kitchen and soon after we start opening the presents.
On Christmas Day, a few minutes after waking up, we have breakfast. Soon after, that lunch is prepared to be ready by 13h00. We have lunch, talk for a while and then clean up the kitchen. In the living room, we watch films, such as "Home alone".
And this is how my family and I celebrate Christmas! <3

Catarina, Portugal

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On Christmas Eve I have lunch and dinner with my family. After dinner I watch movies, play cards and board games. At midnight I open presents. On Christmas Day I have lunch with my family and then I just play PlayStation

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On Christmas Eve we get together with my family (cousins, grandparents, parents, uncles) at my grandmother's house at 7pm. We have dinner, eat christmas desserts, play board games and watch some television, and we open the gifts around 11pm.
On Christmas day it's almost the same thing. We have lunch, play board games at my grandmother's house with cousins, parents, uncles, grandparents and we stay there all the afternoon.
David Oliveira 12C Portugal

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I usually spend the christmas Eve with my parents, my brother , and my grandmother.
From 7:00 to 9:00, my mother and i start making the Christmas sweets and the codfish.
We have dinner with the whole together around the table , eating , talking and laughing.
Finally before midnight arrives, we sit down to watch " the voice " . When midnight arrives, we open the presents together.
On the 25th, we have lunch, watch several films, play " pictionary " during the afternoon and finally have dinner together .
Inês Gonçalves, Portugal.

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On christmas Eve I usually have dinner at my house with almost all my family.
After eating se talk to each other until minutinhos so that se can open the presente.
The next day my family and I havê lunch and dinner.
During the afternoon of the 25th we use to play cards and watch filme.

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On Christmas Eve, my mom and my aunties make food for everyone while I talk with my cousins. After that, when everyone is at the tablet, we start eating and making lots of jokes. When it's midnight, we open our presents and I leave a plate of cookies and a glass of milk for Santa.

On Christmas day, I wake up and realize that not only is there another present, but also that Santa was here, because the cookies and the milk aren't there anymore.

José Carlos, Portugal

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On Christmas Eve I am woken up by my grandfather messing with me and telling his anecdotes, because I spend Christmas with my parents, my aunt and my grandfather. After we're there playing, we have our turkey for lunch with appetizers, such as ham, melon, nuts and a few other things. We spend the afternoon socializing and watching Christmas filmes. In the evening, for dinner, as expected, we have our codfish with boiled potatoes and that cabbage that cannot be missing, and at the end we have the Christmas desserts, such as molotoff, Christmas pudding, french toast, sweet rice and many more. After dinner, we hang ou, even with the neighbours, waiting for midnight to open the presents and in the meantime we stay a little longer and go to sleep.
On Christmas day we start the day by eating the "farrapo velho" and spend the day with my family, friends and neighbours, because my building has excellent neighbours and we have a relationship that is very rare to see among neighbours. At night, still with the neighbours, we make the secret friend.

Fabiano Oliveira, Portugal

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On Christmas Eve, my mother, my brother and I prepare things for dinner: we make french toasts and some cakes and cookies and we put the presents under the Christmas tree. We have dinner and sit around the table waiting for midnight to open the presents.

When the 25th arrives, we sit at the table and my mother, my brother, my grandmother and I eat and talk about how the year was , While we eat the cod with potatoes, eggs and a wonderful sauce made of onions. After eating we watch the fireworks.

Tiago Cunha | PT 🇵🇹

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On Christmas Eve, my family prepares some desserts like french toasts, pudding, among others. At night, after dinner, we watch films and open the presents.
On christmas day i spend the day with family at home
Anselmo moreira Portugal

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On Christmas Eve my whole family goes to my brother's house. Some make the food, others stay at the table talking and others play. Then we all sit at the table, eat and wait until midnight to open the presentes.

On Christmas Day my family comes to my house in the morning and we have lunch. When we're done, some talk in the living room and kitchen, while others go to their bedrooms and play games.Then we all oh back to the living room and have dinner. At the end of the day they leave.

Luís Pereira | PT

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On christmas Eve I help my mim and my grandmother with The desserts and The food . We have dinner and we talk To one another while we wait for Open The presents. On christmas day , I open The coffee shop with my dad To prepare The cristhmas table , and I prepare breakfest To my grandparents. I wait for my mom and my grandmother To prepare The lunch.
Tiago Brandao
Portugal

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I love Christmas<3
On Christmas Eve I usually spend the day at my grandparents house with my cousins while we make the typical sweets of the season. While we wait for midnight to open the presents, we have dinner: octopus and cod while we watch Christmas films and listen to typical Portuguese music.
On Christmas day we go to my grandparents house again to have lunch and see more Christmas films.
Letícia Domingues
Portugal

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I spend Christmas with my parents, my grandmother and my sister along with my brother-in-law, one year at my house, another year at my aunt and uncle's house we arrived around 6 pm the day before to prepare Christmas Eve, we have the habit of playing board games, such as Monopoly, Jenga, Quizz... At midnight we deliver the gifts and close for the night. The next day we got together again for lunch with the famous turkey of the 25th.
Emílio Tavares//Portugal

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I spend Christmas with my family. Every year my grandparents, my aunt and my cousins ​​come to my house and we celebrate.  This year will be different because there are fewer people but I think it will be something similar to usual.  On Christmas Eve my mother and my aunt go to work in the morning. At 12pm they leave work, they pick up my grandmother and they all go to my house.  They start making Christmas sweets and dinner, which is always codfish.  After dinner we watch films until it's time to open the presents while drinking hot chocolate. On Christmas Day we have a family lunch and we talk until it's time to leave.
Mariana Vieira 12°C

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I usually spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with my parents, my sister and my grandmother. On Christmas Eve we eat "Arroz à Valenciana" and some desserts, like "aletria", french toasts, etc, all of this at lunch. At dinner we eat codfish with potatoes and some desserts, all of them made by my mother and grandmother! Then we wait until midnight to open the presents while we play some table games, cards and talk to each other. Christmas Day is the same, we watch some typical films like "Home Alone", and eat the same thing as on Christmas Eve.
Tiago Castro/ Portugal

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On christmas Eve both on the 24th and the 25th december, I spend a lot of time with my family, we eat the various sweets thar christmas  offers us and we hang on together. When midnight comes, we open all the presents. On the 25 th, we do that special christmas lunch and dinner all together. During the afternoon we watch movies and stay together.
Inês Gandra 12°C-Portugal

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On Christmas Eve, around 8 PM, my closest family and I usually have dinner at my house. After dinner, we usually talk or play a game until midnight, to open the presents.
On Christmas day, my family and I have lunch and dinner together. In the afternoon we go for a walk, or if it's raining, we stay at home and watch a film.
Sérgio Santos 12°C Portugal

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On Christmas Eve, I always help my mom and my grandmom with the desserts like french toasts and "aletria". I usually put up some decorations in the living room and dining area and try to set the table in a nice way. When dinner time  comes around, I take care of my little brother and make sure all the presents are wrapped and under the tree.
My family: mom; grandmom; brothers and uncle, and I have dinner all together and after that, we clean up and hang out.
At about 23:30 I start getting ready to dress up as Santa Claus and at midnight I start handing out the presents. We hang out some more and then go to sleep.
On Christmas day, I wake up at lunch time and we all spend the day resting, relaxing and watching christmas films.
- Ana Dias 12ºC

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On Christmas Eve I usually pick up my cousins and my grandparents for family dinner to spend Christmas night and open the presents at midnight. 

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On Christmas Eve I usually pick up my cousins and my grandparents for family dinner to spend Christmas night and open the presents at midnight. 

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On Christmas day I spend most of the day sleeping and playing cards with my cousins and my uncles, and eating the sweets all the day long.

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On Christmas Eve, I usually help my mother with the desserts: the custard, the pudding, the “aletria”. I have dinner with the whole family gathered around the table, then we play bingo and other games. I wait for 00h00 to open the gifts and then I go to sleep.

On the 25th I have a family lunch and I spend the day with them watching films.
Francisco Peixoto/Portugal

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8l76A8qsi5c

Also watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mm7lgNNFznY
(though the 7-fish tradition is not everywhere!)

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Christmas traditions around the world: Italy

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PANETTONE - a Christmas must-have (and eat - ... until Easter!)

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PANETTONE - a Christmas must-have (and eat - ... until Easter!)

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https://italysegreta.com/panettone/

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By the time my husband rolled me into Milan's Buzzi Hospital maternity ward in the early hours of Christmas two years ago, our ultimate gift was already two weeks late . Among the small details I remember about the twenty-plus hours in labor, was a little red box on the lunch tray ensconcing a buttery treat that livened me with a precious hint of festivity in between slowly intensifying contractions. It was a mini panettone, a soft and airy reminder that it was Christmas. All panettone is defined by its sweet brioche-like bread quality. It is airy yet moist, cylindrical in shape, and always presented in its entirety before being cut in wedges. I hardly missed the uniquely Milanese tradition of adding a dollop of Marsala-spiked mascarpone or the glass of dry spumante to wash it down (although I would not have minded it!). The young elf hat-adorned hospital attendants grimaced with my one too many demands. Night fell, but my baby didn't. My time with my own personal size panettone would be the last peaceful pause before an emergency C-section. And though a visitor snuck in a few Marchesi pastries the next morning - nothing would compare to the memory of my sweet little panettone.

Throughout childhood in suburban New York, Zia Maria, a family friend, was our gateway to all things Italian. Thanks to her our Christmas meal always ended with a real panettone from Italy. The domed cake-bread hybrid, came in an elegant big red hat-like box. As Zia Maria took the knife to it, we'd all hold our breath in anticipation of its collapse and sigh in relief as the panettone kept its form while stylishly and imperceptibly bowing. My brother and I picked out the raisins and candied fruit and ripped the dough sheaths before lowering them in our mouths. I've come to learn that this was all too Italian. "Children are expected to pick out the raisins and canditi that make panettone more of an adult dessert," Italian-born San Francisco Bay Area based chef and my friend Viola Buitoni explained to me by phone. "My mother used to say she was fat because she was given all the leftovers from her five children."

Panettone has by now claimed a place in Christmas tables around the world but it is originally from my adoptive Milan. Some say it was first requested in the XV century by local ruler Ludovico Sforza who wanted a sweet bread with grapes on the Christmas table, others say that it was a fallen bread made by a baker with heart woes and he added dried fruit to make it look and taste fancy. Whatever its inception, it is a fact that Milan's Biblioteca Ambrosiana jealously guards the 1470's manuscript that first mentions the celebratory sweet. The domed shape was always the cake's distinctive trait, however, panettone remained stout, bread-like and mostly local until the 1920's when the Motta family introduced strong leavening suitable to mass production creating the iconic (tall) shape.

Stanislao Porzio, a food scholar and author of the 2007 book Il Panettone: Storia, Leggende, Segreti e Fortune di un Protagonista del Natale , the most comprehensive Italian book on the subject, writes that panettone was first mass produced when Motta opened a factory on viale Corsica in Milan with a grand innovation for the time: a thirty-meter-long oven. Motta helped shape the industrial market through the years, though their mother yeast still remains in the ingredient list even as production has expanded to South America and beyond.

Since Motta's innovations, the tocque-shaped sweet has been such a Milanese symbol that in the 1980s, the late designer Enzo Mari named the tiny concrete traffic bollards he designed for the city after it.

A handful of bakeries sell panettone year-round for breakfast in Milan, but it is during the winter holidays that panettone becomes ubiquitous throughout Italy, and becomes a real obsession for the Milanesi. Every November, as Christmas approaches, Milan hosts a few large panettone festivals. Under the guise of competitions, these fairs' ultimate goal is to create selling opportunities for small bakeries around Italy who relish in the Northern Italian embrace of new styles of panettone.

The panettone obsessed food writer Margo Schachter led me around I Maestri del Panettone (The Masters of Panettone) last year. Twenty master pastry chefs showcase more than 150 during a two day pop-up fair. After braving a line snaking around the block, one finds a long Last Supper-style table of judges who have been tasting panettone all morning in front of a captive audience. Crowds flock to the stands of winners, in an effort to score at least one of the event's finalists. They stream out of the exhibit hall arms filled with as many panettone boxes as they can carry. At the end of the day, over 15,000 panettone will have been sold.

Porzio went even further thirteen years ago when he founded the fair Re Panettone - King Panettone. All participating pasticcerie are required to guarantee that their products do not contain mono- and diglycerides commonly added to industrial foods to increase their shelf life. His festival celebrates panettone that follows Italy's ministerial decree stating that panettone must be made with naturally fermented starter, is at least 16% butter and contains fresh eggs - in short, simple ingredients, without additives and preservatives. It also cannot contain brewer's yeast, starch, vegetable fats (excluding the cocoa butter in chocolate), whey and derivatives, soy lecithin, dyes or preservatives. Porzio is even petitioning for the art of panettone making to be added to UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. It would join Neapolitan-style pizza that won status in 2017 and the Mediterranean Diet in 2013. This effort is to preserve the role of the artisan and preserve purity, ritual and rules that distinguish the marvellous from the ugly - in the words of many panettone enthusiasts including master baker Nicola Olivieri, "real from fake."

Traditional panettone classico Milanese is enriched with plump raisins and - orange, lemon peel and Sicilian citron that are candied - the purist preference. Things started changing in the 70's when chocolate panettone gained popularity. Buitoni still remembers the brouhaha that came with what by now is an accepted, even quaint, alternative. It still takes a stringent pastry pedigree to play with tradition, but a few young, forward thinking bakers are experimenting with fermentations and bold flavors like ginger, black tea and pistachio. An increasing demand for panettone dotted with dried figs and sour cherries, enriched with moscato, filled with or even flavored with saffron is prompting regional trends and pushing boundaries. A successful pairing can create the right buzz, but a true mastery of fermentation is required to be in the running as a worth springing for.

If you are not Milanese, you may have a wider angle on panettone. According to Schachter, Southern Italians like their panettone sweeter and fluffier with a preference for short panettone often pale in color from baking at lower temperatures. Buitoni, who hails from the central region of Umbria, remembers both kinds from her childhood, the artigianale arrived with her Zia who lived and worked in Milano, the , which she knew as Piemontese, was coveted for its sugar and hazelnuts Dutch crunch-like glaze by kids. As the world of panettone multiplies like pantone colors in Italy's pastry shops, markets and grocery stores, Italians categorize three groups of panettone that also reflect their price points - industriale, semi-artigianale and artigianale .

For most or all of the last three decades of the 20th century, Nestle effectively cornered industrial panettone making, with outright ownership or controlling interests in Motta, Alemagna and Perugina, three of the largest producers. Interestingly, this was also the period in which panettone transitioned from a specialty niche product to a household name. Even though in 2009, Bauli, a Verona based industrial baked goods maker, bought Motta and Alemagna back into their original side of the Alps, there is still little difference between a big box panettone and the next, making price the discriminating factor. In fact, it is widely known that industrial supermarket panettone is often sold below cost (5-10 euros) as a means to lure in holiday shoppers. An industrial panettone can have a shelf life in excess of six months.

Semi-artisanal panettone is made by medium size, family owned outfits who specialize in holiday sweets. They use high quality ingredients but have the technology to make batches large enough to satisfy the demands of stores like Eataly. A careful eye to packaging design typically distinguishes panettone in this category, they're coquettishly wrapped in expensive paper with intricate drawings and glittery ribbons, at times packed in keepsake tins. Last year at Eataly in Milan I counted at least a dozen different panettoni: gluten free, wholewheat blueberry, fig and Malvasia wine, pistachio cream and more. Semi-artisanal panettoni range between 15 and 25 euros and their makers typically recommend a best by date that does not exceed three months.

Panettone artigianale from a local baker starts at 20 euros and can go up to 40 when made by one of Milano's legendary pastry shops or Italy's revered master bakers. You are paying for more than the guarantee of impeccable texture and flavor: you are supporting the dedication that has stewarded the unpredictability of fermentation to perfection over several days, you are rewarding the passion of an artisan who has toiled in the kitchen so you didn't have to.

These masterpieces, when not wrapped to order, are stylishly and simply clad, they don't need designer clothing to take center stage. No panettone artigianale worthy of his name will last longer than a month. On trend, Italian fashion houses Armani and Gucci offer signature panettoni in branded collectible tins for the holidays, a pezzo forte for fashionistas and much more affordable than a handbag. Dolce & Gabbana collaborates with historic Sicilian pasticceria Fiasconaro to create two variations sold in Italy for 50 euros.

Buitoni recalls how hard it was to find panettone when she moved to New York City in the 80's. She'd have to brave the crowds at Balducci's in the East Village just to find commercial brands like Perugina at astronomical prices. Today, panettone is as common on shelves as peanut butter, and as expected on holiday tables as fruitcake. But while all panettone produced in Italy is held to the standards of the ministerial decree, even the cheap industriale , requirements are broken and circumvented once production expands abroad. Most Americans around Christmastime eat "an industrial product packed with a ton of preservatives and low quality ingredients. It is made in July and August and exported in advance to sit on the shelves for weeks leading up to Christmas," says master baker Nicola Olivieri.

But the trend is slowly changing. These days panettone semi-artigianale is available at better stores and online sellers. And, albeit very slowly, artigianale has been finding its way to the increasingly discerning palates of American in urban areas. At Buitoni's shop Buitoni&Garretti, a fine Italian foods store that she and her Milanese catering partner, Yolanda Garretti, owned and operated between 1999 and 2001 they paid a fortune to have panettone artigianale from famed pastry shop Gattullo Milano shipped to them at Christmas time. They hoped they would at least cover shipping costs and brought twenty into their shop to sell to their more discerning clients. Even at $40 for a small and $65 for a large, they sold out in two days. The following holiday season, people started reserving their panettone artigianale for the holidays in September.

Shortly thereafter Gustiamo in the Bronx started importing the outstanding panettone artigianale made by Luigi Biasetto, a Belgian born award-winning pastry master of Venetian descent whose name is whispered in respect by those in the know. Even with a price tag of $60 plus tax and shipping, Gustiamo has sold four times what they normally sell this year.

Nonno Bianco Olivieri

One of Italy's new kids on the block is Olivieri. A 6th generation baker, he grew up in Arzignano, a small town in the Veneto region. After a pastry stage in Australia, he returned to his hometown to transform and expand the family business. Today, he co-owns Olivieri 1882, a modern pasticceria with traditional roots, in a repurposed warehouse more reminiscent of Williamsburg than Venice. The all-day Olivieri shop, designed by local architects AMAA Studio , is "a sort of ' ' where locals can meet and drink high quality coffee and pastries" according to Olivieri. An adjoined restaurant he conceived opens at night with naturally-leavened sourdough pizza and natural wine. Despite the unlikely location of the shop, Nicola Olivieri's innovative creations are making waves in Italy's pastry corridors; his work rivals that of Milan and Rome's dernier cri pastry destinations. While Olivieri got his panettone feet wet as a kid in the family's shop, he credits famed yeast guru Francesca Morandin as his - mentor. Even Olivieri's business model is innovative: instead of working with a far away distributor, as of this year he retails his panettone online, sending it fresh, direct from Arzignano to the lucky buyer.

The NYT's Tejal Rao wrote an article in 2017 entitled "Panettone Has Become an Obsession for American Bakers." She shares the stories of a handful of them including New Yorker Jim Lahey, the founder of Sullivan Street Bakery, rose to fame for his focaccia and no-knead bread recipe, and began making a small number of panettone every Christmas five years ago. While his run was previously so small you'd have to book months in advance, they are now available around the US on Goldbelly. The best case in point is Roy Shvartzapel who, like Olivieri, believes that panettone should stay on the shelf for a month at maximum. Roy's tall panettone with large, elusive air bubbles is available year-round - his Instagram photos will convert any skeptic but his products are no secret - in fact he sells out often. On The David Chang Show podcast, Shvartzapel shares his heartwarming journey as a pastry chef learning and studying with many great chefs. Humbly, he credits his experience with Italian pastry god Iginio Massari at his laboratorio in Brescia as the most formative, prompting his pursuit of a perfect panettone and his subsequent success.

In the Bay Area, many also swear by the panettone made by Manresa Bread, owned by 3 Michelin star chef, David Kinch. Manresa will ship from any of his 3 locations.

Whichever panettone suits your taste and budget, there is one rule you need to observe: do not finish it in one sitting, leave at least a wedge to toast for morning-after-Christmas breakfast. To get your panettone on this Christmas, here is a short guide.
Artigianale:
Pasticceria Biasetto - Padova, Veneto, Italy via Bronx, New York's Gustiamo

Olivieri 1882 - Arzignano, Veneto, Italy direct from website

From Roy - San Francisco, CA direct from website

Sullivan Street Bakery, New York, NY via Goldbelly

Manresa Bakery, California
Semi-artigianale:
Loison is a Verona based family run high end baked goods producer whose Christmas goods are available online from San Francisco importer Howard Case

Albertengo has been making panettone Piemontese in the province of Cuneo for over a century. Find their delights on iGourmet

Perbellini's chocolate and orange creation, also produced in the Verona area is worth every penny. Find it at Boston's food lovers' paradise Formaggio Kitchen
If you happen to be in Milano these artisans make a few different types of panettone on a limited run so it's best to order ahead.
LePolveri is a micro panifici o with a line out the door and sells panettone by reservation only.

Panificio Davide Longoni is a destination for bread in Milan as Longoni is known for experimenting with non-traditional flours, ancient ancient grains and fermentations. His panettone can be found in his shop or on cosaporto.it.

Pasticceria Polenghi is a family business run by Angelo, in his 70s, founded by his mother in Milan's city center in 1945. He only makes only 400 classico Milanese and still uses the cooling baskets his family passed down to him. Most of his customers know him by name.

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Panettone: Italy's Sweet Christmas Bread - Italy Segreta

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By the time my husband rolled me into Milan's Buzzi Hospital maternity ward in the early hours of Christmas two years ago, our ultimate gift was already two weeks late .

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On Christmas Eve (24th evening) we all go to our friends Elia and Cristiano's house and we have a fish based dinner. A short time before midnight Santa rings the bell and brings a sack of presents for the children.
On Christmas Day we celebrate at my brother's place with all my relatives. We never cook the same dishes - our rule is "lots of fun, not much fuss". During lunch we exchange presents (some of them are nice, others are quite silly) and after it we all go to an indoor five-a-side pitch for the Christmas soccer tournament.
Boxing Day (26th) is for in-laws: we enjoy another big meal and another present round, and in the afternoon we play bingo.

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https://www.idealista.it/en/news/lifestyle-italy/2022/12/01/2277-christmas-and-new-years-italy-celebrations-traditions

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There are many things that Italians take very seriously, and three that spring to mind are food, family, and faith. It's therefore no surprise that Christmas, a holiday based on all three, is an incredibly important time in Italy. Each family of course has its own Christmas traditions in Italy that they respect, which can differ greatly depending on where in Italy they live. There are some specific Southern Italian Christmas traditions, but there are also common threads. From Italian Christmas traditions involving a witch and fish, let's discover some of the best-known Italian Christmas and New Year traditions so you too can celebrate Christmas like a local.

How do they celebrate Christmas in Italy?

Let's start with possibly the most traditional and well known Christmas symbol, and the one that is never lacking in any Italian home: the Christmas tree. In Italy, Christmas trees arrived in the second half of the nineteenth century thanks to Queen Margherita of Savoy who decorated one in the Palazzo del Quirinale in Rome, launching a trend that spread rapidly throughout the peninsula.

Tradition now has it that Christmas trees are put up in Italy on 8th December and taken down on 6th January each year, like clockwork.

Another important part of Italian Christmas is the traditional nativity scene. Displaying a manger and the birth scene of the baby Jesus is said to be the work of St. Francis of Assisi and dates back to the year 1223. On the night of Christmas Eve in 1223 in Greccio, Umbria, St. Francis of Assisi is said to have set up the first nativity scene in history, representing the birth of Jesus in his cradle in Bethlehem.

From that moment on, many artists have experimented with the creation of wooden or terracotta figurines for this purpose. The Tuscans started the trend, but it soon spread to the ancient Kingdom of Naples too. To this day, the masters of the nativity scene are the Neapolitans, and the symbol of this Neapolitan tradition are the shops of Via San Gregorio Armeno.

Not only can beautiful nativity scenes be seen in public places, shops, and churches across Italy, but having a nativity scene at home is one of the best Italian Christmas traditions and is also popular in this traditionally Catholic country. Nativity scenes are traditionally put out on the 8th December along with the tree, but take note that the figure of the baby Jesus mustn't be added to the manger until the evening of 24th December as tradition states!

Christmas gifts in Italy

And what about the gifts? Is it Santa Claus, Santa Lucia or Jesus who brings the Christmas presents in Italy? Nowadays in Italy it's Father Christmas that brings the presents, although in some areas of Northern Italy such as Brescia, Bergamo and Verona the tradition of St. Lucy is still holding on, a Saint who delivers the gifts to children at Christmas. At one time, in a less consumerist era, with less global influences, it was even Jesus Christ himself who traditionally brought presents to children in Italy.

The Italian Christmas witch

How is Christmas different in Italy? While Italy tends to focus on the Nativity scene and Catholic traditions over the Christmas period, and gifts from Santa Claus, Jesus or Santa Lucia, there is another tradition that is a little more unique and even somewhat strange. In Italian folklore, a witch brings good children treats on the morning of the Epiphany, 6th January. What is the name of the Italian Christmas witch? La Befana, who is most often seen happily carrying a basket filled with goodies for Italian kids, is traditionally known as a good witch. Legend tells that she originally set out to meet the Baby Jesus but in the end never found her way to Bethlehem.

What is a traditional Christmas dinner in Italy?

Now we come to one of the most important moments: Christmas Eve dinner or Christmas day lunch. Trust us, you really don't want to miss out when it comes to traditional Italian Christmas food.

Here, Italy is divided between those who put more importance on the dinner of Vigilia, an evening meal on the 24th December which is traditionally based around fish because the Catholic tradition forbids eating meat on the evening before a religious holiday, and those who prefer lunch on Christmas Day.

While the typical Christmas dishes of the various Italian regions are many, it's worth giving special mention to polenta with cod and lesso with sauces in Veneto; agnolotti boiled and seasoned with sauces in Piedmont; the carbonade (beef cooked in red wine) in Valle d'Aosta; canederli and roe in Trentino; tortellini and passatelli in Emilia-Romagna; livers and roast guinea fowl or the stuffed capon in Tuscany; spaghetti with clams, capon broth or stuffed capon in Campania; colurgiones (stuffed ravioli) and malloreddus (gnocchetti) in Sardinia and pasta with sarde in Sicily.

That said, one constant of all Italian Christmas meals is the dried fruit and desserts like panettone, torrone and pandoro that are enjoyed up and down the country. In addition to these classic Italian Christmas sweets, each region also has its own typical Christmas desserts and sweets.

How do they celebrate the New Year in Italy?

Christmas and New Year parties are perhaps among the most delicious occasions of the year in Italy. It is a well-established tradition to bring families together not only to exchange gifts, but to rediscover the joy of meeting at the table together. This is becoming more and more valued, especially since in recent years celebrations, celebrations have been somewhat smaller than usual thanks to the pandemic.

The New Year's Eve Gala Dinner is traditionally full all kinds of delicious treats, which differ depending on the regions, but two of them will almost always be present on every table, from Aosta to Trapani: the zampone and the cotechino accompanied by lentils. The lentils represent the money that will accumulate during the year: the more you eat, the more money you'll make!

The meal ends with dried fruit and grapes. According to tradition, it is important to have grapes on the table on New Year's Day because those who eat grapes for New Year's Day count their money all year round.

The New Year in Italy is celebrated with firecrackers and fireworks of all kinds that illuminate the sky to welcome in the 1st of January. Many people throw old stuff out of windows, as if to throw away all the negative things of the past year, expecting better from the future. At midnight, they exchange good wishes and toast with only the best Italian sparkling wine!

The colour red plays an important role. So, if you want to be more lucky in 2023, then it is essential to wear something of this colour.

New year bingo

During Italian New Year's parties, guests often entertain themselves with a certain game which the Italians call ' Tombola', bingo to you and me. The particular attraction of playing this game comes from the fact that each number is assigned a symbo l; instead of reading the numbers out loud, the players can indicate them by the symbol by which they are traditionally represented (e.g. the number 90 is "the fear", 47 is "the speaking dead", etc.).

What is Christmas called in Italy?

Last but not least, if you plan to spend Christmas and the New Year like the Italians, then you'll also need to brush up on your Italian greetings. If you want to wish somone a Happy Christmas in Italian, then you can say "Buon Natale", while in Sicilian it's "Bon Natali" and in Ladin (a language spoken in some parts of the South Tyrol region) you can wish people a "Bon/Bun Nadèl". And let's not forget about the new year, when you can wish your family and friends a "Buon anno" or "Felice Anno Nuovo".

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There are many things that Italians take very seriously, and three that spring to mind are food, family, and faith. It's therefore no surprise that Christmas, a holiday based on all three, is an incredibly important time in Italy.