"Il Carnevale"
Of all the fried sweet foods your imagination can conceive; elaborate papier-mâché monsters that celebrate ancient rituals and the traditional snacks between one orange battle and the next.
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Carnival in Italy is a time of excess - of celebrations, food, dancing and music - before the period of lent in the lead up to Easter. Each town across the country has its own unique way of celebrating, some whose traditions date back centuries! These celebrations often involve dressing up or wearing masks, indulging in food and wine, dancing and staying up late. Food assumes a central role in all celebrations, serving as a unifying force and ultimate pleasure before a period of fasting.
Mangé & beive a Carlevé | Eating and drinking during Carnival
By Marta Doria: Urban & Territorial Designer, passionate about food and the people behind it.
Ivrea’s Carnival - renowned for the spectacular and crazy Battle of Oranges - unfolds as a revelry each year. Amidst lively festivities and historical customs, the culinary aspect of the Carnevale plays a pivotal role, immersing participants in a unique gastronomic experience.
Faseuj grass
One of the culinary gems that shines this time of year is the fagioli grassi. During the celebrations, fagioli grassi take center stage, providing a hearty and sustaining energy source for revelers gearing up for the festivities. The feast dates back to the Middle Ages when rations of beans, a precious staple in the diet of common people, were distributed by the Eporedian Brotherhoods to the poor. To this day, various neighborhood associations in Ivrea organize bean feasts to distribute Fagioli Grassi to the city's residents, celebrating the beginning of the Carnevale.
Polenta e Merluss
The combination of polenta and codfish is a gastronomic marriage that graces the tables and stalls of Ivrea during the Carnival days. Polenta, made from cornmeal and slow-cooked to achieve a creamy consistency, perfectly complements the delicate taste and soft texture of codfish. This dish becomes an irresistible delight for those seeking an authentic and traditional flavor combination.
Vin Brulé
Among the beverages that warm the hearts of festival-goers during the cold winter days, vin brulé stands out as the perfect companion. The warm wine, infused with spices such as cloves, cinnamon, and orange zest, emanates a comforting aroma that wafts through the streets of the city. Vin brulé becomes the finishing touch to an intense day of festivities, providing a cozy atmosphere for friends and family to gather in the joy of the Carnevale, and above all, to feel less pain when an orange hits you! (Advice from a participant: be sure to wear a funny-shaped red hat - the berretto Frigio - and you won’t be hit by oranges).
Ivrea’s Carnival isn’t merely a celebration of oranges and confetti, it is also the journey through the culinary traditions that make this event truly special. Fagioli Grassi, polenta and codfish, and the comforting warmth of vin brulé combine to create a banquet of flavors that accompanies the laughter, music, and joy, defining this one-of-a-kind festival.
Nourishing bonds: A Culinary Journey Through Sueglio's Carnival
By Ilaria Riva: Storyteller, on a hunt to find taste, history and natural beauty on less traveled paths around Italy.
In Alpine regions, Carnival has long intertwined with ancient rituals venerating the land's fertility and its bounty. Food assumes an essential role in these celebrations, serving as a strong symbol and unifying force. During this season, a plethora of fried dishes is present, a tradition stemming from the seasonal pig slaughter, which yields abundant pork fat or lard.
In Sueglio, a quaint hamlet with panoramic vistas nestled amidst the mountains around Lake Como, Carnival breathes new life into the quiet streets. A vibrant procession, featuring elaborate handmade masks, dances through neighbouring towns, stopping in homes and taverns to sing and drink with the locals.
Notable among these elaborate masks are the Crapon, papier-mâché visages of monstrous forms, and the Doppi, costumes that combine a puppet and a person. Amidst a whirlwind of streamers, confetti, and the melodic strains of accordions, cymbals, and drums, the atmosphere crackles with energy.
As the procession winds its way back to Sueglio, it is greeted by locals gathering in the square, eager to prolong the festivities with wine and the tasting of scarpasce. These savory delicacies, an ancient tradition, have a distinctive flat shape similar to a shoe's sole.
Crafted from a medley of polenta flour, bread, potatoes, Latteria cheese, butter, milk, and occasionally rice and eggs, they are topped with a sprinkle of Parmigiano and a blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and fennel seeds. Passed down through generations and lovingly prepared by the town's women in their homes, the recipe undergoes subtle variations within each family, making scarpasce impossible to source elsewhere.
As twilight approaches, the revelry culminates into a communal dinner, where music plays late into the evening, creating shared memories and collective joy. The profound sense of community experienced during these events leaves an indelible impression and serves as a reminder of the enduring bonds that traditions and food are able to foster.
Tutti Fritti!
By Alberto Trame: Passionate about Italy’s gastronomic and wine heritage; curious about every story in the realm of food culture.
Semel in anno licet insanire. “Once in a year one is allowed to go crazy”.
This famous Latin saying refers to a special day of fun and exaggeration dating back to Ancient Rome. On this festive day rules could be subverted and social roles reversed. Everyone could transform into and mock their opposite, the servant becoming a master, the rich man becoming poor.
The days surrounding this celebration were filled with sweet delicacies, such as frictilia, a round-shaped dough of eggs, honey and spelt flour, fried in lard.
With the arrival of Christianity, this holiday gradually became known as Carnival. Supposedly originating from the Late Latin expression carne levare, to “remove meat”, it indicates the end of a cycle that coincides with the first day of Lent (Ash Wednesday), and the beginning of a period of purification, penance and fasting ending on Easter day.
Carnival’s peculiar spirit of transgression is also reflected in the culinary traditions of the various Italian regions. Fried Carnival treats can be found everywhere, even if named differently. In fact, often the same fried recipes have varying names across regions to even the space of a few kilometers!
Chiacchiere, undoubtedly the most famous Carnival preparation, are common all over Italy, but the delicacies don’t stop here.
We find castagnole, prepared with a dough the size of a chestnut and - of course - fried. Their preparation is akin to that of struffoli, smaller balls of eggs, flour and lard, fried and seasoned with honey, typical of Neapolitan cuisine. In Sicily an analogous dessert is called pignoccata, in Calabria cicerata.
Similar to struffoli - in sound and not recipe - are strauben, found in the South Tyrol area. The same dish is called fortaes in the Ladin language of Trentino, again consisting of milk, flour, eggs and grappa. Their characteristic snail shape is obtained by passing the batter through a special funnel. Once fried, strauben are served with icing sugar and cranberry compote.
Not far, around Belluno we find carfogn, sweet ravioli prepared like small crostoli and filled with a mixture of poppy seeds, jam or chocolate and grappa. The dessert takes its name from the homonymous hamlet of Carfon in the municipality of Canale d'Agordo.
There are also other desserts linked to specific cities, such as Milanese tortelli, similar to French beignets, that are filled with custard. Or frittelle veneziane - their close relatives - plain or filled with zabajone.
From confetti to fried dough, everything can be broken into strips and pieces during Carnival, yet you must always carry on - gastronomically speaking - in the wake of a thousand-year-old tradition.