smoking out the Befana's washing ?
There was a significantly colder feel to the air around Barga this morning. In fact, for those who rose early enough to notice, some of the mountain tops around the city had their first light dusting of snow. The winter is definitely on the way but along with the cold weather comes another figure altogether more positive and heart warming -- the Befana.
She was at home this weekend in her wooden house up on the mountainside above Barga at Pegnana. Along with her were numerous helpers who were there to keep the fires going for roasting this year’s chestnuts, heating the cotte for necci* and warming the red wine -- the Vin brulé for the many visitors to her house.
La Befana is a character in Italian folklore, similar to Saint Nicholas or Santa Claus. The character may have originated in Rome, then spread as a tradition to peninsular Italy. Her name derives from the festival of Epiphany, and she visits all the children of Italy on the eve of 6 January to fill their socks with sweets if they are good or a lump of coal if they are bad.
first snow of the season - image by Kerry Bell
Being a good housekeeper, many say she will sweep the floor before she leaves. The child’s family typically leaves a small glass of wine and a plate with a few morsels of food, often regional or local, for Befana. She is usually portrayed as an old lady riding a broomstick through the air wearing a black shawl and is covered in soot because she enters the children’s houses through the chimney.
She is often smiling and carries a bag or hamper filled with sweets, gifts, or both.
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*Necci – the simplest of ingredients …. sweet chestnut flour, water and salt mixed into a thick paste and cooked between two hot plates over a flame. Two metal plates, the testi or cotte, are oiled and heated and the chestnut paste is poured onto one of the plates, the other is placed over the top so that the necci can be cooked from both sides. A stick to press down on the top plate and in seconds you have one of the tastiest foods in this area. Add some ricotta and you have quite simply the Food of Gods.
La Befana on barganews over the last decade: 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2004 | 2003 | 2001 | 2000|
