All the Christmas traditions of Mantua, from the night of Saint Lucia, the one between 12 and 13 December, until Christmas night, in addition to the culinary traditions, such as that of the Monaco Ring, the Mantuan dessert par excellence.
The traditions of the Christmas in Mantua, are not very far from those of Verona already told so well on this blog. For the Mantuan people, the party begins well before December 25th, with our favorite Saint, Saint Lucia the 13 of December.
Saint Lucia, a Sicilian Christian martyr, became the protector of sight after having pulled out her eyes, as popular tradition dictates, betraying the reality that saw her tortured and killed after she declared herself a Christian before the Syracuse court. It is still a mystery to me what she has to do with the Christmas traditions of the Po Valley, but the fact remains that in Mantua Santa Lucia fully takes the place of Santa Claus in all respects.
During the evening of 12 December all the streets of the villages and the city are crossed by the Saint on her cart pulled by a donkey, giving sweets to the children who leave the house as she passes. To welcome her, a cup of hot milk and hay are left next to the famous letter for the donkey friend. And already shortly before December 13th the craft markets, sweets and roasted chestnuts start around the streets of the city center, from Corso Umberto I to Piazza delle Erbe up to Piazza Sordello, which obviously continue until the Epiphany.
Therefore, Christmas is felt much less, as far as the expectation of "gifts and presents" is concerned, only among some adults, because even those grown up, myself included, basically always prefer 13 December.
I finish the post with Mantuan culinary traditions for these days: on Christmas Eve you obviously eat lean, therefore the inevitable pumpkin tortelli and second fish of your choice, usually fried cod, but still a fairly moderate dinner.
The real celebration is for Christmas lunch. The inevitable Mantuan agnolini in broth, boiled or stuffed guinea fowl, Mantuan mustards, mandarins and dried fruit. There is also a local version of the classic panettone, theMonaco ring. It has the shape of a panettone but with a hole in the center and filled with chestnut cream. I have never found it anywhere else, so if you happen to be here at Christmas don't miss it.
