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The Easter meals offer release from the somber religious rituals of the previous Lenten period and solemn Holy Week events. In some southern Italian homes Easter celebrations––after morning Mass, of course––may begin with the head of the family, or the eldest member of the group (usually a nonna), blessing the table, foods and invited guests with a...

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Florence marks Easter Sunday morning with a centuries-old tradition called the Scoppio del Carro, or the Explosion of the Cart, which attracts large crowds every year. The ritual is believed to date back to the First Crusade in 1099 when, according to legend, the Florentine Pazzino de' Pazzi was the first man to scale the walls of Jerusalem. His br...

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If you’re traveling in Italy this week, you’ll have a front-row seat to many of the religious and cultural traditions associated with the Easter holiday. But another bonus of spending Easter in Italy is that it offers a unique opportunity to savor some of the specialty foods associated with the holiday.  From north to south, you’ll run into a bevy...

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As we are about to embark on the solemn celebration of the Easter Triduum, for many Italian Americans, Holy Thursday means a day spent in the kitchen lovingly recreating recipes handed down from generation to generation. This week’s guest, Stefano Arturi, knows a thing or two about recreating recipes. The author of the Italian Home Cooking Blog, St...

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Good Friday (venerdi santo) is a solemn, sacred day in Italy and when it comes to food the menu for a “pranzo di quaresima‘”, (a luncheon meal for this final Lenten observance) has a long and important tradition. In 1891 Pellegrino Artusi, an Italian merchant with an interest in the art of cooking, wrote La Scienza in Cucina e l’arte di mangiar ben...

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Noicattaro is one of the many characteristic villages of Apulia around the area of Bari which surely deserve a visit discovering places that tell about traditions made of history and religious folklore. n particular, Noicattaro is one of the most interesting places to visit especially during Easter Holy Week, characterised by the traditional proces...

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Originally from Campania but now widespread in the whole country, Neapolitan pastiera is a dessert that can be found in the city during the Easter holidays. It hides many stories about its origin, starting from the story of the mermaid Partenope, symbol of the city and protagonist of the fountain in Piazza Sannazzaro. According to the legend, the m...

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The South dominates the podium of Italians' favorite destinations ahead of the Easter vacations. These are the data provided by Jetcost, a search engine for airfares, hotels and car rentals. Once again this year, the study shows, our compatriots will favor Italy, with as many as 14 Italian destinations among the 25 most searched for ahead of the ho...

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Pizzagaina, also known as ham pie, is a delicacy Italian traditionalists will tell you is only to be made on Good Friday and eaten Easter weekend. Many will relay stories of doing this with their grandmothers growing up, and now doing it with their own children, nonna's recipe in tow. Some deem it acceptable to eat during Lent, and local Italian de...

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For Catholics, Easter is the most important celebration of the year. So it doesn’t surprise that in Italy, where Christianity and Catholicism marked so much of the country’s cultural and artistic heritage, Easter celebrations are a pretty grandiose affair. From religious re-enactments to processions, from personal moments of meditation and prayer t...

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