Today is Ferragosto in Italy! If you’ve ever been to Italy on August 15, you have probably noticed how quiet everything is. Why? It’s Ferragosto! Ferragosto is a public holiday, which means everyone gets a vacation day from work! While most things will be closed (“chiuso per ferie”), typically this is a good time to get a culture break as most museums remain open.
How long have Italians been celebrating this holiday? Since 18 BC and the festivals of Emperor Augustus (Ferragosto comes from the Latin name of these festivals, “Feriae Augusti”). The holidays commemorate Augustus’ victory at the Battle of Actium over his rival Marc Antony. The summer festivals included horse races – which still take place in Siena on August 16 during their Palio dell’Assunta. Bringing the pagan festival onside with the new religion, August 15 also celebrates the Catholic Assumption of Mary (the day the Virgin Mary ascended to heaven).
Mussolini, not to be outdone, decided to discount the train services for the holiday, giving the working classes the opportunity to go somewhere for their vacations. There are still train specials for Ferragosto. To this day, many will use Ferragosto as the start of their two-week summer vacations. Keep this in mind as highways, roads, train station and airports are packed! Beaches are also bumper-to-bumper as they are an extremely popular vacation spot, especially given the August heat!
Most towns will have special church services or processions in which the Virgin Mary will be carried. If you’re lucky enough to be in Rome, there is the Gran Ballo di Ferragosto with live music and dancing. In Montepulciano in Tuscany, you can check out the games and historical pageant!
Want to celebrate Ferragosto? Grab some family and friends and plan your own feast! Since it will be too hot to cook, I’ve come up with a cold menu that is perfect for dining “fuori” (not “al fresco”, as some want to call it). The expression “al fresco”, in Italian, usually refers to spending time in jail!
Since this is a holiday, we at Travel*Food*Cool are going to take this opportunity to relax today and have based this five-course feast on some of our popular past posts! If you have company coming, these recipes are all good for gluten-free or celiac guests.
To start? Italian Summer Bites and Aperol Spritzes! This appetizer is a snap to whip up and it uses one of the most delicious tastes of summer, tomatoes! This starter is vegetarian and you can make a gluten-free and celiac-approved version by serving it on cucumber rounds! This is a make-ahead appetizer that pulls together in minutes! Find the recipe for Italian Summer Bites here!
Aperol Spritzes scream summer in Italy! You can batch prepare them for large parties and that orange colour is spectacular! To learn more about Aperol and find the very easy 3-2-1 Aperol Spritz recipe, click here!
The next course? A cold soup! This Spiced Melon Mint Soup is a gorgeous green beauty! It uses fresh seasonal melons for a great pop of colour on your table and in your bowl! This is another make-ahead item that needs no stove, just a food processor, or blender!
The Spiced Melon Mint Soup is perfect for vegetarian guests, celiacs and those following gluten-reduced diets!
The recipe for this very simple to make Spiced Melon Mint Soup can be found here.
Hands up if you love to use your BBQ in the summer? Since you are on vacation today, reboot a leftover grilled flank steak from another day with this Cherry Blue Flank Salad! With oppressive summer weather, most people find it too hot to eat anything too heavy. This salad strikes a good balance between protein, freshness and flavour! It also takes advantage of those sweet summer cherries.
This is another good recipe if you are having celiac guests or guests who are following a gluten-free diet! To find out how to make the Cherry Blue Flank Salad, click here.
What’s for dessert? Well, you can keep it cool with fresh Pineapple Ginger Mint Italian Granita from a few weeks back. All you need is a blender and a freezer to give you an Italian treat! You can serve it as a dessert or use it as a palate cleanser between courses. Missed the recipe? You can find it here. This recipe is gluten-free and perfect for celiacs and vegetarians.
Or stay with a cool classic Italian taste, Panna Cotta! This silky cool dessert can be switched up with different toppings, whatever strikes your mood! This is a no-bake dessert, and while you have to turn on your stovetop to “cook your cream”, you do not have to turn on your oven. This gluten-free dessert is celiac-friendly. (Having a vegetarian over? Make sure you use vegetarian gelatin.)
Find out how to make Panna Cotta, here.
I hope you have enjoyed this Ferragosto feast! Buon Ferragosto!
Wow!!! Everything looks amazing, want to try it all. Enjoyed the info on Ferragosto, very interesting. Miss you!
Thanks Jane! Buon Ferragosto!