A Very Cuz Chistmas
By Tony Romeo
12-8-2002 Celebrating an Italian South Philly Christmas
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* This Feature is not meant to disparage the fine Italian People, of which I am one by the way, but instead to celebrate, and poke fun at the holiday celebrated in a fasion you will not hear about on Martha Stewart.
Buon Natale! |
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| Now before I begin, let me state most of my family has been out of South Philly for some generations, and sadly, too many of them that made these memories for me are gone. But some things leave a very lasting impression and some people you can just never forget...This one goes out to them.... |
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| The Feast of the Seven Fishes This one varies from family to family, but it entails an attempt to serve seven distinct seafood or fish dishes on Christmas Eve. What fishes families use will vary, but Baccala, Smelt, Crab, and Mussels are staples. Other fishes can include Cod, Flounder, Shrimp, Scallops, Snapper, Clams, Whitefish, etc. Some "Medigans" will try to include Canned Tuna, Swedish Fish, or Goldfish Crackers to round out the seven, this is a FUGAZI and not acceptable!! If you are having trouble rounding out your seven, invite Mike Missennelli to dinner, as he FLIP-FLOPS more then any fish I know, and he can be substituted for any three fishes on the menu.  |
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 Aluminum Christmas TreeThis one is very old school, and one of my most distinct memories of my South Philly Grandparents. It would glisten with the colorwheel, reflecting throughout the room, off the plastic covering the furniture! I don't remember them ever decorating it other then the blue balls. (an Italian holiday metaphor? maybe...) Year after year the tree looked exactly like it did the last, which made me ponder if the balls were actually wired into the tree, and the whole thing, was simply stored, as is, decorated. Nothing says South Philly Christmas, quite like the Aluminum Tree. |
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Pizzelles Of course the tree was pre-decorated!?! It all makes sense now, how could they have had time to trim the tree, AND make 15 to 16, THOUSAND pounds of Pizelles. For those of you that don't know, a Pizelle is the round wafer flat cookie that is about the size of a teaplate, and about the width of two stacked CD's. The key ingredient is Anise seed and/or Anise oil. In my family we had ONE pizzelle iron that we passed from family to family, so each cousin or aunt would get to make their own Pizzelles, and dispense them to friends and relatives stacked one on top of the other wrapped tightly in tin foil. To Italians, their pizelles and what relative made the best ones year to year was a source of great pride and debate. To the rest of you, Pizzelles are coasters to rest your drinks upon. At the "Kids Table" they are projectiles as lethal as Chinese Stars, capable of inflicting much damage on a cousin or sibling. |
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| The Kids Table Okay, we all know what this one is. It is that segregated makeshift, pool, poker, coffee table etc. that is erected to segregate the kids in the family. Italian Christmas dinners are big, so the cut-off from Adult to Kid table will vary, and is strictly a numbers game. The biggest difference in the Italian Christmas Kids Table, it is not uncommon to hear Michael age 6, or Mary age 9, to ask "Little Tony" age 32, or "Baby Anne" age 67, or Joe-Joe age 57 to pass them something from the adult table. |
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Size Matters Everything at an Italian Christmas is BIG, from your relatives, to the portions, to the number of relatives that attend, to the number of courses served. Excess is the key. I vaguely remember a Christmas when I was eleven, that we had 37 courses! Any less then a dozen courses is considered an insult to the guests. It is widely accepted in most Italian families, however, that every other course, is cigarettes, and every third course is coffee. |
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| Gambling If no one at your gathering leaves with something he won from someone else, you might want to check the purity of your Italian bloodlines. When that many of us get together to drink and celebrate, sooner or later, wagers will be made. Maybe it's on the game on TV, maybe someone breaks out the cards, or some dollars change hands at the pool table, maybe you have a pizzelle tossing contest, but somehow, someway, money will change hands. |
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 LiquorEveryone drinks at the holidays, but Italian Christmas always leads to the appearance  of liquors that have not been in rotation since the last Christmas. Sweet liquors like Anisette, Gran Marnier, Sambuca, and Galiano. It is here a youngster might have his first nip of an adult beverage, and pay for it later! Toasts abound, and family relationships are renewed, celebrated and quarreled, all over a single shot. |
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| Emotion Finally, the single most remarkable element to my South Philly Christmas Memories, is the emotion. It was palpable...the good, the bad, and the ugly. And LOUD, 17 people at a table that seats 8, engaged in 25 different conversations all at once. Each screaming over, or at another, laughing, yelling, crying, all at once. As a child I'd stand on the floor with my head barely able to reach the table, and try to get a listen, or a look at what was moving my family so passionately to scream and gesture with their whole bodies over every syllable. They talked about everything, and they talked about nothing, but they talked, and talked. Sports talk and what mobsters my grandfather went to school with were my favorite topics. Especially the Sports though. My family was 610, without the censors, before 610 was even imagined. (I think that is why Gargano is my favorite, he captures that same spirit). And sooner or later, the Sports talk got so heated, that I'd hear an Uncle scream...."HELEN, GET IN THE GODDAMN CAR, WE'RE LEAVING!!!" And my uncle Alex would storm out over a difference in opinion over the Eagles, or Phils, or Flyers. He of course vowed to NEVER RETURN....
But you can ask anyone, this is just another South Philly Christmas Tale.
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