Slap bang in the middle of August (the national month of holiday) on 15th August is Ferragosto, a national festa to celebrate summer and, in Calabria, to see how much food a human can possibly consume in one day.
It originally started in Roman times as a day of honouring the Emperor and every year people happily carry it on. In Calabria you have two choices for Ferragosto; head to the beach or head to the mountains. Families or groups of friends gather in their masses, bringing food, wine and barbecues and spend the day doing what Italians do best: eating.
Yesterday I dutifully carried out my Ferragosto commitments and this morning now feel about a stone heavier. Me and the hubby headed for the country to my brother in law’s house and ate lunch with the family. The sixteen(!!!!) of us spent a good three hours tucking into a wide range of Calabrian delights: frittata, gnocchi al pomodoro, polpette, polpette di melanzane, salsiccie, involtini di carne, pollo arrostito, carne arrostito, pepperoni ripieni, insalata, list goes on!
Full of food, I was rolled to the beach where we met up with friends to listen to music, soak up the sun and eat! Later the phone rang. We must come for a sunset aperitivo further down the beach. We went but there was no chance a single bar snack passed my lips.
And this is all in the middle of August! There are still at least six weeks of bikini wearing ahead, how do the Italians do it? A few days ago I posted a blog about how I don’t think my pregnancy bump is showing. After yesterday I’m definitely bigger in the belly department but sadly I’m pretty sure it’s not baby!
