At the table during the SS festivities 2023-2024

Dishes and recipes; wines and bubbles. Biodiversity within the same region wins

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In the Center-South, the focus is on Christmas Eve dinner, in the North on Christmas lunch. Sweet bread in common: very different versions but created to increase the calories of daily bread in times of famine

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The ten TOP historic combinations d&' Italy

As an observatory for consumption and markets (Ceves-Uni - OVSE.org since 1991® ©) we have witnessed an obvious change in habits and consumption on the part of Italians at the table in the last two to three years.

Of course, nutrition and the richness of the offer are in our DNA, we are lovers of cooking, dishes and recipes. Even the enormous number - often ruined - of television and radio broadcasts dedicated to how to cook and above all trivially discard

prove this.

Are

we not saving money at the table, or are we changing ourselves? That is the question being asked. The answer is affirmative because between fashions and habits, between life choices and the highly awaited next generation, between elderly and mature consumers and some of the last superattached... The table for December 2023 appears different in its preparation compared to only 4-8 years ago

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In summary: less ephemeral and more concrete, less choice and more unique characteristic dishes, more attention to health and less abundance, but with always the search for those typical and traditional winter delicacies, albeit present in a different way, with a few more resilient and limited dinners at home and a more frequent trip away from home, always marked by the proximity of home.

We save more at the table also because of leavened costs: fruit scores a 30-40% increase in 8 years, especially for exotic and distant types, but even vegetables are no joke. Even bread and cereals grew by 25-30%. Perhaps meat, some of it, and fish remain within acceptable limits. Wine grew by 10-14%, spirits also

by 20-28%.

So here is where the renunciation is there, choosing, reducing, but not skimping. Less consumption and less delicacies inside the walls of the house, more ordinary and reduced, more opportunities outside the home but not on the street, not

in the evening.

Here, from the various news and polls carried out in the various Italian regions, winning regional combinations and menus emerge on most of the Italian table with a certain respect for local tradition but also for the cultural history of the holy holidays at the end of the year, such as the traditional Vigil of Magro.

If fish and vegetable pies are the masters, so do white wines and sparkling wines. For Christmas, pasta, meat and panettone or sweet bread or nougat join the tables from Aosta to Pantelleria, but in the central-south the menu of most courses on Christmas Eve with meat and fish and lots of vegetables wins, while in northern Italy the

Christmas lunch list is more important.

In any case, the biodiversity of the menus always wins

In Piedmont they win agnolotti in broth and boiled meat mixed with Aosta Valley beef, combined with the Alta Langa Docg traditional method by Sara Vezza, Barbera Nizza Doc az. il Botolo, Lagrein Doc Colterenzio, Nebbiolo Dop Sommet Les Cretes.

In Lombardy, eel cooked in broth, stuffed turkey spread in the foothills and stuffed capon in the lower Po Valley, combined with Franciacorta Docg by Giuseppe Vezzoli, Franciacorta Mirabella, Riesling Renano by Borgo Priolo di Dallavalle.

Liguria also focuses on Natalini, or gnocchetti in broth, on lean cappon and also fish cooked with vegetables, combined with a Dolcetto Langhe Doc by Clavesana, the Gavi Docg by Gavi La Scolca Soldati.

In Veneto and Friuli polenta and cod, tripe in broth and turnips and cotechino, but also risotto and red winter radicchio and the boiled meat platter, combined with Rosso della Ghiaia Zerbaia, Tai by Nardin Walter Vini.

In Trentino Alto Adige, dumplings or knodel in broth, baked goat and strudel, combined with St. Magdalener from Bozen, Lagrein from Tramin, Pinot Noir from Nals Malgreid, TrentoDoc Antares from Toblino Cantina.

Emilia Romagna dedicated to anolini and tortellini stuffed with meat and cold cuts and cheese, combined with Bonarda Oltrepo Pavese, Riesling Igt from AZ. Agr. Finigeto

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Tuscany and Umbria, including stuffed capon and roasted chicken and goose offal in all sauces, combined with the Toscana Siepi igt by Castello Fonterutoli, the Borgeri di Bolgheri by Giorgio Meletti Cavallari.

Lazio Molise and Marche between pasta in broccoli and sprig broth, cod and capitone stewed with fried vegetables, cardi soup and boiled fish, combined with Marotti classic Verdicchio, Chardonnay San Michele Appiano, Soave Classico Inama, Lugana Doc Ca dei Frati.

Abruzzo with boiled beef or roasted lamb or cardoon boiled in broth rich in meat, combined with Aglianico DOP Cantina di Venosa, Cruas is the traditional method of az.agr. From the Borgo Priolo

valley.

In Campania, it ranges from capitone to struffoli, fritters or sweet mustacciuoli, combined with Chianti Santa Cristina, TrentoDoc Antares Toblino, Merlot di Cusumano, Manzoni Bianco from La Zerbaia.

In Basilicata and Puglia, in addition to boiled cod, cabbage and cabbage in broth, turnip greens and pasta fritters with fish and finally the bittersweet calzone with chocolate and honey, combined with Prosecco Rosè Doc vintage Walter Nardin, Pinot Grigio from Podere del Nidran, Passito Pantelleria Doc by Caterina D'Ancona.

Calabria with its spaghetti and broccoli, anchovy and potato sparrows, spicy suppressed potatoes, zeppole, combined with Valdobbiadene Cartizze and Vigna del Baffo Docg Superiore Agostinetto, Pinot Noir from Terlano and Sauvignon from Caldaro Kellerei.

In Sardinia, roasted piglet wins in the interior, but also stuffed ravioli and gnocchi with sausage, the famous herring, combined with Pinot Noir Doc by Produttori San Paolo, Carignano di Siddura, Gavi di Gavi by Soldati La Scolca.

On Christmas Eve, the great Sicily offers chicken in broth with pasta and sardines, beccafico, herring, and finally the boccun round shortbread stuffed with dried fruit and raisins, then cassate and cannoli, combined with Grillo Delia Nivolelli Doc by Petrosino, Etna Rosso by Torre Mora, Pantelleria Passito Naturale Dolce by Antonio Gabriele.

by Giampietro Comolli