Christmas menus in Italy can differ quite widely according to the individual local traditions, however dishes to contrast with the capon or cappelletti (stuffed pasta parcels) put in an appearance during Christmas Eve dinner. Dishes like shiny salmon tarts, crayfish in sauce, shellfish, lobster and enormous fish in aspic.
The meatless, or "di magro" menu, based on fish, vegetables and legumes, symbolizes purification through abstinence and a distancing from excesses, whilst waiting for the great feasting on Christmas Day.
The meal preparations for these special days are certainly the most involved and time-consuming of the whole year. Everything must be perfect: from the table settings - with shining silverware, starched table linens, sparkling crystal - to the choice of the wines to accompany the delicacies that you will serve. Preparing the fish takes just a little more effort, but only if you want to do everything yourself and decide to buy it fresh and clean it at home. Problems with timings and other complications can be avoided, if you ask the fishmonger to clean, scale and bone all your purchases. Alternatively you could order a few ready-made dishes from your favourite delicatessen. Here is a suggestion of how to organize a suitable menu for this great occasion - from the appetizers to the main dishes.
Why not start with a large platter of oysters? It's becoming increasingly easy to find very fresh oysters on sale at prices that are not too exorbitant, though still not cheap. December and January are the best months for eating them so what better time for a little luxury than Christmas? The oysters must be very fresh and well-kept in ice. The true experts can, without hesitation, recognize which ones are from Brittany, which are Portuguese and which are Scottish; you should follow the advice of an expert. Once the oysters have been brushed clean and opened, place them on a platter full of crushed ice. Although there are some excellent recipes for cooked oysters they are better raw when eaten as an antipasto, accompanied by thin slices of rye bread, butter, pepper, balsamic vinegar or a low-acid vinegar mixed with chopped shallots.
Smoked salmon is now part of the tradition, but what should we choose? The best smoked salmon comes from Scotland and Norway and has uniformally pink flesh and, overall, a rather delicate taste and smell. Serve it simply, sliced, with butter - or lightly whipped fresh cream - and brown bread with fennel seeds.
Finally for the supreme luxury: caviar. For more details please refer to the section dealing with its secrets and the best way to serve it.
The first courses are not particularly difficult; you could prepare "crespelle ripiene di pesce" (savoury pancakes with a fish filling), risotto or pasta with shellfish of any description. Crayfish and scallops cook very quickly, in three or four minutes, and are easy to handle; their flesh, being firm, full of flavour and rather sweet, goes well with piquant saffron and curry sauces that bring a touch of the orient to the dish.
As for the second courses, traditions from various Italian regions treat us to very interesting dishes.
The "capitone" is a large eel; this fish - ever-present at Christmas feasts in Latium (Lazio) and the south of Italy - can be roasted, braised "in bianco" (without tomatoes) or with vinegar. In Naples (in the Campania region), and also in Abruzzo, we have "baccalà" or salt cod. It can be cooked "in rosso" (with tomatoes), with olives, breaded and fried or cold in a salad with chestnuts, walnuts or raisins. Salt cod is a so-called 'poor man's' fish which started to become well-known at the time of the Counter-Reformation and Spanish rule. It became a permanent part of regional culinary customs. As it wasn't too expensive it allowed the masses to observe the Church's "di magro" (meatless) days without fasting. The baccalà (salt cod) is cod fish which has been dried (also called "stoccafisso" - stockfish) or preserved in salt; in some regions, Veneto for example, they exclusively use the dried fish from Norway. This is excellent but very difficult to obtain. The mixed, deep-fried fish (fritto misto), also typical of the Campania region, combines salt cod, eel, red mullet, squid and prawns; this crunchy and tasty dish is usually accompanied by "insalate di rinforzo" (reinforcement salads), with cabbage or broccoli and dressed with anchovies, oil and olives.
Finally, one of the most sumptuous dishes is the cappon magro (literally 'meatless capon') from Genoa. The dish is given this name as it anticipates the real capon of the Christmas Day dinner. It is a rather complicated and time-consuming dish to prepare; in addition to the six or seven different types of fish which are cooked separately, it is made up of the same number of different vegetables. All the ingredients are layered on the plate in a kind of pyramid shape using dressed pieces of "gallette" (ship's biscuits) as a base.
