If you ever find yourself in Italy in the middle of August, you will notice something strange. The shops are shuttered. The bakeries have a hand-written sign in the window that says chiuso per ferie, closed for vacation. The cities are quiet, the beaches are packed, and nobody seems to be in a hurry to get back. That is Ferragosto, and it is one of the oldest holidays on the Italian calendar.
A Holiday Two Thousand Years Old
Ferragosto takes its name from the Latin Feriae Augusti, the festivals of Augustus. The emperor declared a period of rest in the year 18 BC, a break after the hard weeks of the harvest when the fields were done and the animals could rest. Centuries later the Catholic Church placed the Feast of the Assumption on August 15, and the two traditions folded into one. In the 1920s and 30s, cheap holiday trains made it possible for working families to leave the city for a day or two, and the modern habit of the mid-August getaway was born.
Today Ferragosto is the anchor of the Italian summer. Factories close, offices empty, and families head to the sea, the mountains or a relative's farmhouse. The one thing everyone agrees on is that August 15 is a day for a long meal with the people you love.
What's on the Table
The Ferragosto lunch, the pranzo di Ferragosto, is a feast, but a relaxed one. Along the coast, where most of Italy ends up that week, it means seafood: grilled fish, clams and mussels in a quick white-wine broth, a cold seafood salad dressed with lemon and good oil. Inland, there might be a roast. Everywhere there is watermelon, there is gelato, and there is a bottle of something cold.
Naples, our family's home, sits on one of the most beautiful bays in the world, and the Neapolitan Ferragosto is unapologetically from the sea. Spaghetti with clams, fried calamari, a plate of raw shellfish with lemon. That is the food we grew up with and the food we are happiest cooking.
Ferragosto, Dundalk Edition
You do not need a ticket to Naples to eat like it is August 15. The raw bar at Vinny's is open, and our summer menu leans the same way the Neapolitan one does. A few of our favorites for a hot August night:
- Mediterranean Seafood Salad. Marinated seafood served with crostini. Cold, bright and built for sharing.
- Black Diamond Rope Mussels. In white wine, marinara, fra diavolo or a creamy pesto.
- Clams Casino. Six stuffed clams with puréed peppers, bacon and breadcrumbs.
- Fried Calamari with cherry peppers, the way it is done on the bay.
- Linguine Mare Chiaro. Mussels, clams, shrimp and calamari in garlic marinara, named for the fishing quarter in Naples.
Add a cold beer or a glass of white wine, take your time, and let the afternoon stretch out. That is the whole idea.
The End-of-Summer Party
Ferragosto is also the unofficial start of the last big get-togethers before school starts. If you are planning one, let us do the cooking. Our private room seats up to 50 guests, and our lunch and dinner catering packages are served family-style, the way an Italian feast should be. We deliver locally too, $20 for the first 5 miles and $2 a mile after that, and we appreciate a day's notice when you can give it.
Visit our catering page for the details, or call (410) 633-7763 to talk through your menu. Buon Ferragosto from all of us on Holabird Avenue.