Global Officer, Maya Riminucci, BA English Literature and Creative Writing shares her Christmas highlights
In my country, Christmas is one of the biggest holidays, and it’s spent with your family and the people you love, usually eating a lot of food!
Me, my family and all the relatives gather at someone’s home or at a restaurant for lunch and it’s a moment of joy and catching up with everyone, which usually lasts at least 4 hours! Food is the heart of the celebration, as it’s deeply rooted in our culture. For us, food means enjoyment, happiness, and sharing.
One of my favorite parts has always been dessert, because Christmas is the only time of year when you can eat two amazing cakes: Pandoro and Panettone.
Pandoro is a sweet, soft, bread-like cake, usually dusted with powdered sugar. But on Christmas Day, we often slice it horizontally and layer it with a rich mascarpone cream made from mascarpone cheese, egg yolks, and sugar. Then we stack the slices to form the shape of a Christmas tree or a star—it’s both delicious and beautiful!
The other one, Panettone, is also a bread-like cake, but less sweet and more airy. Plus, it’s filled with raisins and dried fruits—but you can also find it with chocolate chips! Usually, we eat it without any spreads nor adds on, since the inside it’s already tasty as it is.
When I was younger, I used to prefer Pandoro because it was sweeter, and I didn’t really like dried fruits. But, growing up, and especially since I’ve started to live abroad, I began to love them equally, because both taste like home no matter where I am. In fact, last year I was doing my year abroad in Hong Kong, and, with great surprise and excitement I happened to find a Panettone in a supermarket, that alone made me the happiest person in the world. All of a sudden, I could picture a room filled with the warm sound of laughter from the happy faces around the table.
It was ‘ A Taste of Home’.