For many Italians and those of Italian descent, the delight of gathering around a bountiful, beautifully laid table, the thrill of indulging in unforgettable regional dishes, and the convivial holiday atmosphere are enough to inspire the greatest of culinary feats. During the Christmas holidays fanciful specialties claim a place of honor at the table. These are traditional dishes that add a festive note to seasonal menus.

Typical Italian Christmas dishes include Baccalà (salted dried cod fish), Vermicelli, Baked pasta, capon and turkey. Traditional Christmas Eve Dinner, which includes seven types of fish (or nine, eleven, or thirteen, depending on the town of origin), is known as La Vigilia Napoletana (Neapolitan Christmas Eve) in southern towns and includes Drowned broccoli rabe (also known as Christmas Broccoli), Roasted or fried eel, and Caponata di pesce (fish salad) to complete the main course.

Traditional sweets (i dolci) are also important items for the Menù di Natale (Christmas menu) in Italy. Many of them originated in convents, where the nuns made special types of sweets to mark major religious holidays such as Christmas, presenting them as gifts to eminent prelates and to the noble families from which their mothers superior came. Every convent made a particular kind of sweet. These desserts include: Struffoli (Neapolitan honey pastry); Cenci (fried pastry ribbons sprinkled with powered sugar); dried figs, candied almonds, chestnuts, and marzipan fruits and vegetables.

Not to be missed are the sweet breads: Panforte (a specialty of Siena), Pandolce (a specialty of Genoa), and Panettone. A traditional Milanese Christmas bread, the legend goes that panettone originated in the sixteenth century, when a baker named Antonio fell in love with a princess and baked a golden, buttery egg bread to win her heart. Over the years the name of the bread evolved into Panettone (from pane, for "bread"), and in the nineteenth century, with the unification of Italy, the bread was embellished with candied red cherries and green citron as a patriotic gesture.

Traditional Italian Christmas Recipes

Here are three recipes for traditional food served during the Christmas season: