Fireworks, friends, toasts, and feasting. In many ways the Italians celebrate New Year's much as we do in America. But there are some particularly Italian twists.
It's called Capodanno, the top of the year.
Since red is the color of life and a symbol of wealth, tables are set with red linens and red decorations. It's good luck to wear new red underwear--it's said to ensure love in the new year. Lingerie shops stock up before the holiday and most everyone buys.
Candles light the dinner table to bring a bright future.
The sparkling wine is more likely to be spumante or prosecco than champagne.
Lentils, which look like little brown coins, are eaten for luck and prosperity, and often served with cotechino (spicy pork sausage) and/or zampone (stuffed pig's foot) and mashed potatoes. The pork is a symbol of the richness of life.
Pomegranates with their hundreds of bright red seeds, a symbol of abundance and fertility, are also traditionally eaten on New Year's.
Tombola, a game much like Bingo, is a popular way to pass the time until the midnight fireworks.
In piazzas throughout Italy, there will be music, toasting, kissing at midnight, and plenty of noisemakers and horns, too.
Happy New Year to all my readers and best wishes for health and prosperity and love in 2009!
