Italian speaking practice and grammar tutoring
We have been celebrating Christmas in the same way and with more or less the same food for years. Every year we gather around the same table, with the same people, and we eat more or less the same dishes.
It’s been a really strange year – I am being kind, 2020 – and Christmas won’t make an exception. Christmas is all about traditions and knowing that everything will be the same, year after year, but this obviously cannot be said for this year.
My father worked shifts, sometimes he had to work at weekends too, and we didn’t get to celebrate every Sunday together, which meant that the Sundays he was home were really special days.
Vegan options are everywhere today but, depending on the place you find yourself in, the choice might be quite limited. If you are in a big city, I am sure you’ll have plenty of options, while if you are somewhere in the countryside – like where I live, for example – being vegan can sometimes mean having to eat a salad and little else.
If you are Italian and think of Christmas, the smell of panettone immediately comes to your mind. You may think of the presents, the parents, the gathering but what you really crave is that slice of sugary paradise, which just doesn’t taste the same if eaten some other time during the year.
Every year, when Christmas comes, you already know it will all be the same as the year before: you will decorate the tree with the same old lights and ornaments, you will buy presents for family and friends and probably gather with them eating the same food and doing the same things you do every year.
Unfortunately, these blogs are all in Italian. So, if you are looking for authentic Italian recipes in English, written and published by Italian bloggers, it can be quite an adventure.
I hope so because today I want to take you with me up and down the streets of Genova to discover some real food gems!
I am not exaggerating, believe me. Last month, I have been given the chance of visiting a place where a lot of magic – and many sweets things – is made and I felt really lucky for that.
Born in the north of Italy, it can now be found on the table of every Italian family at Christmas. If you do not know about it, panettone (which can be translated as big bread) is a sweet bread loaf with a cupola shape, usually weighing more or less 1 kilo.
