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All Saints and All Souls Day

Halloween has only been celebrated in Italy since the 1990’s. We Italians celebrate All Saints Day on 1^st November, where traditionally all the Saints and martyrs are celebrated and All Souls Day or “Tutti i Morti” on 2^nd November, which is a day dedicated to those who have passed away. Traditionally Halloween or All Hallows Eve was the beginning of the celebrations for All Saints and All Souls day.

Some parts of Italy believe that the dead return on All Souls Day. In Sardinia people often lay places for the dead in their family and have banquets, leaving the food left out until the following day for the spirits who visit at night.

Each region in Italy celebrates it differently and many Italians use All Saints day as an excuse to have a party. Where I grew up in Northern Italy, on 1^st November you would walk into any Trattoria and be greeted with a glass of wine and boiled chestnuts.

As there are usually a huge amount of pumpkins left over after Halloween, I shared a selection of recipes using pumpkins with you and one of my favourites for this time of year, chestnut jam.