As with most Italian holidays, eating is a very important part of Christmas and it requires a lot of preparation. Thus the open-air markets and grocery stores were teaming with shoppers today, all of whom were searching for the freshest and tastiest ingredients they could find for their holiday celebrations. It’s our goal to share some of that food excitement with you today and so we bring you a photo tour of the open-air market in Rome’s Testaccio neighborhood.
Traditionally, the Catholic Church asked Christmas Eve be kept as a day of fasting and abstinence (the Code of Canon Law eliminated this fast in 1983) and thus the traditional Christmas Eve meal in Rome is one of fish rather than meat. Today, the fish stands were loaded with riches (see above), the most treasured of which are the capitone or eel (see below). Shoppers in the know search for a big female eel and serve it roasted, baked, or fried (it’s also preferible to purchase it alive and and conveniently kill it in your own kitchen sink in order to insure freshness).
Eating takes all evening and though each family’s meal varies, they all include a large number of courses (7, 9, and 11 are common) and often feature a menu somewhat like this one:
Antipasto of olives and marinated eel
Fish stock
Pasta with tomato and tuna sauce
Boiled cod with tomatoes, onions, pine nuts, and raisins
Broccoli
Eel
Panettone and/or Nougat for dessert
