The Origin of Halloween
The origin of Halloween dates back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, which marked the end of summer and the start of winter. Celts believed that the boundary between the living and the dead was blurred, and on 31st October, ghosts returned to the living world as a result. For the festival, people wore costumes and lit bonfires as a way of repelling the ghosts.
By the 18th century, this tradition evolved into All Saints’ Day, a celebration of those that have passed away, but it still incorporated some of the original Samhain traditions. All Saints’ Day falls on 1st November, and the evening before was All Hallows Eve, which we now know as Halloween. Over time, Halloween traditions developed in western countries into activities like trick-or-treating and pumpkin carving.
All Saints’ Day
In many countries including Italy, Halloween celebrations are quite different from many western traditions. On 1st November, Italians celebrate Ognissanti (All Saints’ Day), an ancient Christian ritual that honours all Saints of the Christian faith. Ognissanti started in the 4th century and it was originally celebrated in the spring. This changed to autumn in the 8th century when Pope Gregory III designated 1st November to Ognissanti.
The traditions around Ognissanti vary between Italian regions. For example, an extension of trick-or-treating, a ritual that possibly originates in the first Christian wanderers, who’d go around villages asking for “soul bread” in exchange for a prayer for a deceased loved one, is a practice from the Middle Ages that can still be found in some areas of Italy today.
In Sicily, it’s a common belief that ghosts reward children for their good behaviour with sweets on the night of Ognissanti. In Sardinia, many children knock on their neighbour’s doors and ask for a gift to give to the dead, and in Campania, some people walk around their neighbourhoods wearing coffin-shaped boxes.
Pumpkins are another famous part of western Halloween that resonates in Italy. In regions like Abruzzo and Trentino, many families carve pumpkins and place a candle inside to use as lanterns.
All Souls’ Day
On 2nd November, Italians celebrate All Souls’ Day. This day is dedicated to the remembrance of the dead and people normally bring flowers and candles to the graves of their loved ones as a way of paying their respects.
Different Italian regions celebrate this day in different ways such as arranging parades in which children dress up as their favourite saints. In Rome, it was once common to eat a meal near the grave of a loved one to keep them company.
Culinary traditions on All Saints’ Day
Food is a huge part of Italian culture, and All Saints’ Day is no exception. It’s common practice for Italian families and friends to enjoy a meal together in celebration of Ognissanti, which includes plenty of authentic and traditional dishes that are specifically prepared for this occasion such as roasted chestnuts, pumpkin risotto, and truffles.
Each Italian region also has its own traditional sweet for the Ognissanti celebrations, such as ossa dei morti (cookies with almonds and hazelnuts) in Lombardy and colva (a cake sometimes known as “grain of the dead”, containing wheat, pomegranate, chocolate, and walnuts) in Puglia. In Lombardy, fave dei morti is also a common sweet treat enjoyed around this time of year. It’s a tasty almond pastry similar to French macarons, and in Naples, you might find torrone dei morti, which is coffin-shaped nougat chocolate.