Europäische Weihnacht – in Vielfalt geeint - Sutter GmbH & Co. KG

Italien/Italy
Eine kulinarische Besonderheit des italienischen
Weihnachtsfestes ist der berühmte Früchtekuchen
Panetone, von dem Lästermäuler behaupten,
er sei leicht zu backen, aber schwer zu
verdauen. Wie bei vielen mächtigen Leckereien
liegt aber auch das Geheimnis beim Panetone-
Verzehr in der vornehmen Mäßigung.
Christmas and New Year’s Greeting:
“Buon Natale e Felice Anno
Nuovo!”
Just like in jDenmark and jSweden, Italy also
pays tribute to St. Lucia on December 13. After all,
Syracuse in Sicily was her birthplace and initially,
this is where she was buried. But the posthumous
story about this Saint is a genuine adventure. When
Syracuse fell into the hands of the Arabs around the
year 800, her body was hidden in the catacombs
until the year 1040, when the Byzantines reconquered
Sicily. The Byzantine general Giorgior Maniace
brought the reliquary with the mortal remains of
Lucia to Constantinople, to give them to Empress
Theodora. In 1204 Constantinople was then conquered
by Venetian crusaders and Lucia once again had
to take a trip. In Venice she found a wonderful
church on the island of San Giorgio and peace for 650
years. Once the church was torn down in 1860 to
make space for a railway station, she was once again
shifted and has now found her final resting place in
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a church in Ss. Geremia e Lucia in Venice. It comes as
no surprise with such a travel-happy Saint that the
custom of admiring her was widespread, all the way
to Europe’s farthest north. In Italy, in honour of St.
Lucia on December 13, many places have a meal prepared
for the poor, torrone die poveri and hand it out
to them. It is made of chic peas boiled in sugar until
it is firm.
A not quite so pretty but still eagerly anticipated
character is the witch La Befana, whose name is
derived from the Greek word Epiphanias, meaning
‘appearance’. January 06 used to be celebrated in Jordan
as the day on which Jesus was baptised. Originally
the giving of gifts in Italy did not take place at
Christmas, but only on Epiphanias, the day of the
Three Wise Men. Even if Italians by now have fallen
in line with the rest of Europe and give presents
to their dear bambini on the feast of San Nicola and
on Christmas day on the occasion of il bambinello
Gesu, there would still be plenty of tears if the little
stockings hanging from the chimney were not filled
with plenty of sweets on January 06. This is the duty
of the good witch Befana, the origin of whom is presumably
rooted in pagan tradition. Some mythologies
even take her back to Hekate, the Greek goddess
of the underworld. But still, there is an old story
which links La Befana with the birth of the infant
Jesus. According to this, the witch had set out too late
to present her gifts to the child lying in the crib jointly
with Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar. Once she
finally set out the star of Bethlehem was no longer to
be seen and hence could not guide her to the crib.
Ever since she has been wandering around the world
on the day of the Tree Wise Men, in the hope of finding
the infant Jesus. Although she is an ugly witch
she pleases almost every child with her gifts. Only
extreme little rascals are occasionally disappointed
because La Befana left nothing but black chalk, the
much feared Carbonata, in their socks. (And in these
our child-friendly days, this usually tends to be
liquorice).
A culinary speciality of Italian Christmas is the
famous Panetone fruit cake, of which malicious tongues
say that it is easy to bake but hard to digest. But
as always, the secret behind consuming Panetone lies
in moderation.