La Befana

Danilo Rizzuti / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Today, most Italian children wake up to find their "Christmas stockings" filled with chocolate and small gifts. But it's not Santa Claus who is bringing the gifts - it's La Befana. And who is La Befana? She is an old woman (a witch) riding on a broomstick (so she can travel around all of Italy with the gifts, maybe?)
 
According to old beliefs La Befana was an old woman who was visited by three wise men who had trouble finding their way to Bethlehem. They stopped by her house to ask for directions, but unfortunately she could not help them. She gave them shelter for the night and the next day they went on to find baby Jesus, inviting her to come with them. She refused the offer, but changed her mind when they had gone on. So she set out to try to find them - without any luck. And so she is still going around searching for Jesus and the three wize men. And on her way she gives gifts, chocolates and fruits to the well behaved children while the bad ones have to make do with coal, onion and garlic ..... Most Italian children, in addition to candy, also get a small piece of (candy) "coal" in the stocking, since they sometimes have "forgotten" to behave themself the previous year.
 
La Befana is celebrated throughout Italy, she has become something of a national symbol. It is thought that the home of La Befana is a place in the region of Le Marche called Urbania and every year they celebrate a festival in honour of La Befana. The Post Office in the city even has a special mailbox for letters addressed to her. This is because many children in Italy write their wish lists to Befana just like children other places in the world write letters to Santa Claus. In addition to the festival in Urbania you'll find a "Christmas market" in Piazza Navona in Rome that is open between Christmas Eve and La Befana. Here you can buy candy to put in the stockings. 

When this day is over, Christmas has come to an end. So now I'm going to put away il presepe (the Nativity scene) and everything else that reminds me of Christmas. Now the new year can really begin! 

Buona Epifania to everybody! 

PS. Click here to read Norwegian Food illustrated's posting about La Befana.

Best wishes for the new year

2011 hasn't been too good a year for Italy (along with some other countries). Because of the well-known crisis, the Italians have been forced to cut in an already tight budget. But where do you make these cuts when a normal salary or pension is only 600 euros or so? 

Unlike in Norway, for Christmas here in Italy people have mostly been buying un pensierino (a small present), because they can't afford to buy what they really want.

Families are having trouble paying their bills and getting wages to last all month. Several shops (ie butcher shops) have thus begun to make packages that contain meat, pasta, sauce, etc and sell at a cheap price to help people in need.

Businesses are closing down because of la crisi (the crisis). In a very short time my nearest newsagent and bakery had to close down. They closed for the summer holidays, but never reopened. Several months ago there was a fire in the local bar in the piazza and it had to close down. I don't think it will ever reopen. And when friends meet in the street all they are talking about is la crisi.

A note in one of the Italian newspapers reveals how hard life can be in Italy at the moment. But it also shows that people help each other in times of need...

(Scroll down for the English translation of the note)

Pensionata sorpresa a rubare, i Carabinieri prima l'arrestano e poi la invitano a pranzo. I militari sono intervenuti in un supermercato dove i titolari avevano pizzicato una donna a rubare carne a un valore di 20 euro. L'intervento dei militari ha consentito di fermare la donna che stava tentando di allontanarsi e di recuperare l'intera refurtiva. Una volta condotta in caserma, la donna, una pensionata 60enne, ha ammesso con un certo imbarazzo le proprie responsabilità. 

Ma la storia non è finita con la stesura del verbale. Dopo aver raccontato ai Carabinieri la dinamica del furto, ha spiegato i motivi del suo gesto, dettato dal fatto di non avere i soldi per fare la spesa e di non sapere come fare a sbarcare il lunario con la magra pensione. I militari, commossi dalla sincerità della donna, dato anche il periodo di feste, hanno prima fatto una colletta per farle la spesa e poi l'hanno invitato a pranzo. 

La pensionata, pur consapevole dell'errore commesso per il quale risponderà di furto davanti alla magistratura, non ha mancato di ringraziare i Carabinieri per l'umanità e la gentilezza dimostrati.

(English translation)

Pensioner caught stealing, the Carabinieri (the Military Police force) first arrest her and then invite her for lunch.

The Carabinieri intervened in a supermarket where the owners had caught a woman stealing meat to the value of 20 euros. The Carabinieri's intervention allowed them to recover all the stolen goods. Once taken into the police station, the woman, a 60 year old pensioner, admitted with some embarrassment that she was responsible.

However, the story did not end here. After having explained to the Carabinieri how she carried out the theft, she also told them that she did it because she didn't have any money to do her shopping. The Carabinieri, moved by the woman’s sincerity, "passed the hat around" at the police station to collect money so they could do some shopping for her, and then invited her for lunch.

The pensioner, which have to answer for her crime before the magistrates, thanked the Carabinieri for the humanity and kindness which they showed her.

I really hope that 2012 will be a much better year for everybody...

BUON ANNO FROM ITALY

Tombola!

Christmas time is "tombola-time" here in Italy.  In Norwegian - and if I'm not mistaken, also in English - tombola means "raffle" (lottery). However, in Italy the tombola is something different. It's a gamle that resembles bingo that many Italians (mostly from the south) are playing at Christmas gatherings. 

Here you can see a traditional tombola from Naples

 

 This picture is taken from Wikipedia

To play the game you must buy as many of the tombola boards as you want to. In my (Italian) family the price is 1 euro per board and the money is placed in a prize pool. It's not mandatory to play for money, but the Italians think it's more fun. A person (croupier) draw and call all the numbers. This person has a board with all the numbers from 1-90 in front of him and a container which he draws the numbers from. Unlike bingo (I think) you get a prize when you have two, three, four and five numbers in a row. For the tombola, however, you have to cover the whole board to win.

Since these boards are used over and over again, one cannot use a pen to cross out the numbers, so here in Italy we use dried beans, chick peas, or dried pasta to put on top of the right number. This means you need to be careful because if the "markers" move away from the right numbers you can miss out on a prize.

Of course, what happens is that some of the players cough, sneeze or "accidently" kick the table so that the pasta and the boards are flying in all directions and all the numbers have to be called again. And the players spend the next 10 minutes or so shouting Has number 25 been called? What about 89? And then they carry on playing for a while until the next "accidental" kick.
 
In Naples (where the game originated in 1734) they've put an extra "touch" to the game. It's called "la smorfia", which means they add a symbol to the numbers. So number 4 is paired with 'O puorco which in Italian means il maiale (pig). Number 25 = Natale (Christmas) and number 1 = Italia.  If you understand Italian you can click here to read more about "la smorfia".
 
My in-laws are from the Apulian region so they have for years used this dialect to call the numbers and in recent years they've taken great pleasure in teaching me the symbols in the Apulian dialect. So one person is calling the numbers and then they're all waiting for me to add the lu puorc ' and everybody is cheering and applauding when I manage to pronounce it the right way.
 
I have to admit that when I first was introduced to this game I thought it to be rather boring, but I've discovered that the important thing isn't so much the game itself, but everything that surrounds it; the fun we're having with "Lu puorc "; the excitement about who will be the first getting two numbers in a row and the friendly arguments when someone has kicked the table and caused total chaos etc etc. And this (along with some other things) has thus become a part of what I need to get into the right Christmas spirit.
 
And while writing this I've discovered that I need to work on my Lu puorc' so that I don't spoil the fun for the rest of the family.....

 

IL PRESEPE / The nativity scene

For many Italians the "presepe" is what gives them the "Christmas feeling". The Christmas tree, which is very important for us Norwegians, takes second place here in Italy - even though you see Christmas trees "everywhere" in the country.

This is taken from Wikipedia: 

"A nativity scene is a depiction of the birth of Jesus as described in the gospels of Matthew and Luke. While the term "nativity scene" typically includes two dimensional depictions in film, painting, printmaking, and other media, in the history of art and culture, as well as in popular use, the term refers to static, three dimensional, artistic, commercial or folk art dioramas, or pantomimes called "living nativity scenes" in which real humans and animals participate. Nativity scenes exhibit figures representing the infant Jesus, his mother Mary, and Joseph. Other characters from the nativity story such as shepherds, the Magi, and angels may be displayed near the manger or stable."

Yesterday was the "Festa dell'Immacolata" and it's also the day when most Italians prepare the Nativity scene - il presepe

The pictures are from my own presepe

A part of the presepe.

(Pizza?) baker

"I Re Magi" or Three Kings/Three Wize Men

A well with running water - which they most probably didn't have 2000 years ago...

You can take a look here to see what I used for decoration when living in Norway - it's very different from the presepe...

Hope you all are having a nice pre-Christmas-time!

PS. I hope it doesn't take long before you hear from me again. Although I have a dog which today suffered an epileptic seizure and only time will show how that will effect my everyday-life.

Ferragosto

I have borrowed the picture here

Ferragosto is an Italian holiday that is celebrated on the 15th August. The name Ferragosto translates into something like holidays of the Emperor Augustus. The day was "invented" to celebrate the end of the hard labours in the fields.

The catholic church also celebrates the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This day is known in many countries as Assumption Day, but here in Italy it is always referred to as Ferragosto.

Nowadays this day is often celebrated on the beach - and is very often accompanied by really big lunches and parties on the beach in the evening which ends with spectacular fireworks. Some places you'll find parades with people dressed in costumes from the Middle Age and other places have their food festivals which includes cheap or downright free and delicious food. There are music festivals and horse races and lots of other nice things you can watch or participate in.

The picture is taken from Wikipedia

In earlier days it was common to arrange horse races and the working animals also got their "day off" and they were decorated with flowers. Some of the old traditions are still alive today, like the horse race "Palio of Siena" which is celebrated on the 16th August. Many places in Italy they have celebrations both on the days before and after the 15th.

Be aware that many shops close on Ferragosto. Of course, in the big cities like Florence, Rome, Milan etc you will always find some places that are staying open, but smaller cities often turn into "ghost towns" on this day because people take to the beach to celebrate.

My brother-in-law is born on Ferragosto so we always celebrate with way too much food.... (By the way, his middle name is Maria and a good guess is that it's because he is born on this particular day. )

I spent the whole morning under an umbrella, like you see on the picture here, without being able to move, but that's another story I will tell you later.........