Offering food to the dead is a tradition which exists in all cultures,
since ancient times. the Egyptians and other ancient peoples used to put some
food in the tomb of their dead as refreshment for their journey to the
afterlife. In 835 A.D Pope Gregory IV changed the date of All Saints’ Day for
the Christian Community from the 13th of May to the 1st of November. The
close association with All Souls’ Day was then established the following day,
the 2nd of November.
To honor the beloved dead, people used to dress up like angels, saints and
devils and they used to make
bonfires. In 1474, Pope Sixtus IV made this solemnity compulsory for the entire
Western Church.
Foods offered to the souls of the dead coming back from afterlife are the
symbol of the gifts they bring from heaven and at the same time they symbolize
a refreshment for their journey, as it was in Egypt.
With this custom people wanted to exorcize the fear of death and of the
unknown.
That’s how a new culinary tradition completely devoted to this celebration
was born.
Today our culture is strongly influenced by other cultures, particularly by the American culture and our traditions are
superseded by foreigner ones. Nowadays we speak less and less about the
commemoration of the dead, we rather celebrate Halloween.
Few people know that Halloween is not a celebration born in America; It has
Irish origins and it dates back the Celts age. The name Halloween is a
contraction of All Hallow’s Eve which means All Saints’ Eve.
This was the day of the Celtic New Year’s Eve (Samhain). For this
population of shepherds it started on November, 1st when flocks were
brought downstream because of the fast-approaching cold. .
Samhain was a feast made to celebrate the beginning of a new year and the
end of fine weather and thus the death was the main theme of this event.
Good seasons were over, the land stopped producing fruit above-ground,
however under the ground something was appearing. According to Celtic
legends exactly on this occasion Samahin
called the spirits of the dead and allowed them to wander on the Earth. In this
way they mixed the world of the living with the one of the dead, in an atmosphere
mid-way between celebration and terror, fear and joy.
On the night of 31st October Celts lit fires in the woods, they
wore masks and sacrificed animals, then they wandered with the light of
lanterns for three days wearing the skin of sacrificed animals in order to
frighten the dead and to force them to return underground.
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POMODORO ROSSO OF MARIA ANTONIETTA GRASSI
Ingredients for a baking
pan of 24/26 cm diameter
12.5 oz untreated hard
wheat flour
6.25 oz 00 flour
0.9 oz dried sourdough
or 0.4 oz brewer’s
100 ml warm water (max
37°C)
1 teaspoon of honey
15.6 oz gumpkins
9.4 oz salami
9.4 oz sweet and soft gorgonzola
blue cheese
8.75 oz Nergi
Extra-virgin olive oil
q.s.
Herbes de Provence q.s.
Salt q.s.
Directions
Slice up the pumpkins.
The slices must be 0.8 inch thick and they must keep their peel.
Once it is baked, remove
the peel and crush with a fork (not mixer).
In a bowl mix the flours
with the baking powder, combine the pumpkins and slowly the water, knead until
the mixture is soft (if necessary, add a little bit of warm water or some flour
if it is too hard. The consistency of the dough depends on the quantity of
water contained in the pumpkins), broaden the dough and add two tbs of olive
oil and the salt then knead.
Let the dough rise until the volume has doubled away from air flowing,
then grease a baking pan and pose the dough, broaden it beginning from the centre
towards the edges of the pan, push well with your fingertips and spray a little
oil.
Spread the gorgonzola cheese and the salami on it. Cover the dough and let rise for a further hour
Spread the gorgonzola cheese and the salami on it. Cover the dough and let rise for a further hour
Bake (preheated oven at
200°C) and cook for 20/25 minutes. In the meantime, wash the Nergi and cut them
in thin slices. Remove from the oven, spread the Nergi slices and serve.
