The world has an obsession with Italy. When asked most people can’t put their finger on exactly what it is-there is just something special about it. When I try to capture “the thing” about Italy, even after all of these years of traveling around the country, I find it impossible.
It isn’t just one thing in Italy, or in the Italian culture. It is a combination of things which combine together to make Italy, well-Italy…
When Artful Italia began I knew it would be not be possible to explain or capture the allure easily, so I decided to write cultural blogs to capture the layers of what makes Italy-Italy. What I am finding is that the story of the cultural aspects of Italy have heavily influenced the rest of the world and many of our own cultures. Something Italians would exclaim is an obvious observation which I should have made years ago.
Sagre, plural of Sagra, encompass so much of the magic that is Italy. In essence they are the perfect combination of Italian passions: food, community, wine, and tradition.
A Sagra is a community meal put together by communities throughout Italy. Generally they are held in summer and fall. Towns and villages throughout Italy host a Sagra dedicated to their local specialty. For example, Tortelli, Pizza, Steak, or Soup. Signs are made and hung in nearby communities advertising the dates (usually 2-4 nights) that the Sagra is happening. The community comes together to set up long tables and chairs or benches, they cook, they serve, and they celebrate.
The menus vary and always there are other things besides the specialty which can be ordered. Visitors line up to place their orders, and then hand their tickets over to the locals, often the young people in the community, and then find seats to wait for their food and drink to be delivered. In the makeshift kitchens the pastas are dished out from massive pots, the meat pulled from long grills, and set on trays to be delivered to the visitors.
As the visitors wait the air fills with laughter, with the smell of the specialty dishes, and with the anticipation of how the food and wine will taste. People greet their neighbors, make new friends and begin to settle in for hours of fun and communing. Various conversations can be heard whether it is discussing the quality of the food, the anticipation of the grape and olive harvests, the weather or how the Italian sports teams have done so far that year. It is community at its best.
Soon the air begins to cool, the sun sets and the energy increases. With full stomachs, and wine flowing kids begin to play soccer, music begins, laughter grows and one finds themselves completely reluctant to leave. One realizes that they are in the midst of what makes Italy so good. Community and passion for a life lived among friends and family, of food shared with others and of spending hours doing nothing but enjoying the moments.
It isn’t fancy, it isn’t expensive, there are no Michelin stars handed out to these places, and there is no need because what they create is perfect. In the unassuming manner in which they offer their specialty dishes, they have created something much more impressive than a fancy plate in a fancy restaurant. They have created community.
The word Sagra comes from the Latin word “Sacrum” meaning “Sacred” or “Holy”. This is in reference to the Sagras that are dedicated to Saints of villages and towns. But to me it is also about the sacred time we spend in our community, getting to know our neighbors, and appreciating the local delicacies and traditions. It is what makes Sagre special and what makes them so popular in the Italian culture.
One of my favorite Sagre was spent in a tiny little village in the hills of Lucca. Their specialty was Tordelli Lucchese, which is a meat “ravioli” with a meat ragu sauce. There were several other pastas on the menu as well as meats and local wine and olive oil was served as well. There were hundreds of people at this Sagra. We sat down with friends, the only non-Italians at the event. Our food began to arrive, served by the local kids. Our servers ranged in age from 5 to 12 years old. They took so much pride in what they were doing we couldn’t help but tip (something not traditionally done in Italy). As the night went on we noticed our service was getting better and better, in fact we had a ratio of one server to every guest. So, we asked one of the young boys who had been serving us if he was making good tips that evening, and in his best English he replied “Not enough”. His honesty made us laugh, and clearly he knew how to work a crowd. But it wasn’t really about the money, he had been an excellent server even before we started tipping. His pride had been so evident that we felt the need to tip him and perhaps he felt he wasn’t being appreciated enough, or perhaps he just wasn’t earning enough to reach some goal he had set.
As the dinner plates were replaced by dessert plates, the lights in the field were turned on, the music began and groups of kids stopped serving and started playing soccer. The lights of the villages below us began to twinkle and the cool air crept in offering relief from the summer heat. Soon bottles of limoncello arrived, the music got a little louder and the warm feeling of community had fully engulfed us. We did our best to speak to the people sitting near us, who kindly suffered through our Italian. Even as foreigners we felt welcomed and accepted. It was very hard for us all to leave that night. We had formed stronger bonds between us, we had laughed a lot and we had inched ever so closer to the culture we love.
We often talk about that night with much joy and contentment. I believe it is because we all felt a welcome part of our adopted community. We understood the importance of Convivialità in the Italian culture and how good it felt to be part of it.
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