Christmas in Calabria

Everything appears magic during the Christmas period with the coloured lights and religious customs.

Especially in this period the tradition are a central role strongly linked to the past. All kind of dessert fills the counters of the pastry shops and the ladies work hard at home for preparing the traditional Christmas pastries.

Christmas traditions in Calabria

Once a time they were prepared to be offered as a sign of respect for family and nature, sincere symbols of rural peasant life, with simple and few natural ingredients.

Christmas traditional desserts in Calabria

In Calabria you begin to feel the Christmas from December 8th which is the Immaculate Conception Day: this is a public holiday as in the rest of Italy, so in the evening of the day before, in every house people prepare the “cuddruriaddri or cullurelli or crespelle” (it depends on the area of Calabria). They are a kind of fried doughnuts made with flour, boiled potatoes and brewer’s yeast that you can eat also covered by sugar.

The traditional cuddruriaddri

The typical desserts for the Christmas Dinner are the “turdiddri or turdilli” and the “scaliddri or scalilli”: the first ones look like the dumplings, but they are fried and covered with honey. The second ones are a kind of intertwined donuts covered with honey or a white glaze or chocolate.

Turdiddri or Turdilli

Another Christmas dessert is the “chinuliddre or chinulille” which are stuffed by “mostarda” (grape jam) or spiced “ricotta” (soft white Italian cheese) or honey with walnuts.

Chinuliddre or Chinulille

During these holidays in several villages they organize a real Nativity Scene: among their narrow streets, the local people become the characters of the story of Jesus’ birth and the craftmans showing how they make the traditional hand-crafted products.

Native scene performing

It’s a way to savour more our Christmas spirit and get to know the old traditional habits and jobs by walking and discovering the many small picturesque Calabrian villages.

Merry Christmas to all of you.

Brunella Brusco

Watch the video  the “Turdiddri”.

Watch the video about the perform of the Nativity Scene.