Cooking with Tony
Chef Tony Grande of Il Capriccio talks with writer Tim Hoey about the spiritual essence of an old-fashioned Italian Christmas...

Cooking with Tony By Tim Hoey, photos by Dan Epstein talians have a knack for holidays. roughout the year, the country's festive sensibility sparks an easily felt, effortlessly shared celebratory atmosphere. And this spirit—realized as a harmonious blend of family warmth, culinary abundance, and communal exuberance—reaches its zenith between Christmas and early January. is joyous time of year means special food. Dishes based on generations of a family's kitchen experience share platters with delicious standards recognizable from Venice to Palermo. Recipes associated with Christmas, New Year's, and the Epiphany (the January holiday when Italians exchange gifts) are eagerly anticipated. is period of feasting, along with its spiritual significance, is shared and savored with family, friends, and neighbors, as Chef Tony Grande of Il Capriccio recently recalled. Tony: During the Christmas holidays, you feel differently. You're excited, yet you become progressively gentler and wiser. You're in greater harmony with yourself, your colleagues, your family. It's a peaceful feeling that spreads outward from you. Tim: Like ripples in the water. Tony: Yes. For that reason, when I was a boy, I enjoyed the activities and the atmosphere of the holidays. For us, gifts were the last thing on our 50 50 Vicinity Vicinity MAGAZinE Winter 2009 The Joys of a Traditional Italian Christmas I mind. e true gift was the Christmas spirit. ere's a holiday song called Tu Scendi Dalle Stelle ("Come Down From The Stars") that I really enjoy. Tim: It's probably the best-known Italian Christmas song. Tony: In many towns like ours, shepherds known as zampognari would play the song on a zampogna. It's an instrument similar to a bagpipe, but made with goatskins. Tim: ere were other communal activities, I'm sure. Tony: One of my favorites was called in dialect 'a focara. For months, children went into the woods, gathered loose wood or cut down old trees, and carried them back to their neighborhoods. ey shaped the collection into a tapered, flat-topped bonfire resembling a Christmas tree. We'd light them on Christmas Eve. Each neighborhood had one, and we'd compete to see which neighborhood made the biggest fire. Of course, the religious feeling was important, as the fire symbolized the spiritual light of Jesus Christ. Tim: Food was an integral part of the holiday celebration, too. Tony: e food was an entry point into another feeling. We enjoyed the harmony of simplicity, the harmony of natural products. e recipes have been shared for generations, and staying connected to them is as important now as when I was a boy. Tim: at's one reason why you're highlighting baccalà now. Tony: Yes. Baccalà—a centuries-old dish based on salt cod—is a traditional Christmas Eve specialty. Prior to refrigeration, salt curing preserved perishable foods, especially fish. And for some reason, cod, which comes from northern Europe and the Atlantic, maintains its character in a preserved state. e best is from Norway. Tim: It's an unusual dish, in that Italian dishes typically use locally grown or harvested ingredients. Tony: at makes its appearance at Christmas even more of a holiday treat. Tim: Is baccalà difficult to prepare? Tony: No, but it requires planning, because you have to get the salt out of the fish through a combination of soaking and continuously running water. at can take a few days. e remainder of the preparation is in keeping with the Italian way of doing things and respects the ingredients. In an ideal world, you would have it the way we did in Calabria… by the fireplace! Tim: at sounds like a wonderful way to enjoy

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