After experimenting new, trendy and expensive recipes far away from their own uses and culture, this Christmas Italians go back to tradition. And to grandma’s recipes.

After exploring the new and searching for extravagant dishes with a more “natural” appearance, where exotic foods like quinoa and soy, which are anything but sustainable, were part of ingredients, Italians turned back to their origins. For next Christmas the tradition wins: Italians will prepare the usual dishes, the “grandma’s recipes”, which stand out even among the most searched words on Google trend, together with “traditional”, showing a new photograph of our Country, which returns to ancient and simple flavours.

Meat and fish have always been the true protagonists of Christmas and New Year’s Eve dinners and lunches, from zampone with lentils to tortellini, from capitone and fried cod to stuffed capon: these are just some examples of Mediterranean tradition masterpieces, strongly linked to territoriality and that bring back memories of childhood, when our grandparents prepared these dishes for the family, invading the kitchen with fragrances. In addition to that return to the genuine recipes of the past, the need for sustainability and the fight against waste also emerges, as traditional cuisine is based precisely on the need to reuse leftovers so as not to waste anything. This is why grandma’s recipes with the usual ingredients are today the most sustainable for the environment, full of imaginative cues on the leftovers recovery, giving life to new and delicious anti-waste dishes.

Meatballs, meatloaf, stuffed savory pies, but also omelettes and croutons are the anti-waste foods par excellence, which collect back into themselves all the most varied ingredients: this is how meat of the remaining roasts can be blended together with the previous days vegetables, to obtain pâté to spread on croutons, or amalgamated with eggs and leftover cheeses to become the filling of a savory pie or an eco-sustainable meatloaf.

Even poor cuts, that are cheaper second choice cuts of meat with very high nutritional value, are suitable to these preparations and to be much more “recycled” than the most common cuts. Like lombatello or spinacino, very tasty and suitable for preparing roasts, meatballs and meatloafs. Or the bovine ossobuco; or parts of chicken waste such as wings, neck and legs to prepare the inevitable broth, for cooking tortellini, homemade using as a filling the rest of cold cuts, such as prosciutto and mortadella.

Storing food correctly, so that it lasts longer even in the following days, is another important point to consider. Freezing excess food and then using it again later is certainly one of the most common and effective methods. Today even the “vacuum” is taking hold in the domestic environment: the vacuum sealing machine can be a gift to make and a good investment, because inexpensive, prolongs the life of food for a long time and avoids a lot of waste.

No longer exaggerated food preparations for fear that it is not enough, with the risk of throwing much of it into the garbage can; no longer uncontrollable super binges, nor nouvelle cuisine preparations with ingredients from the other side of the planet: Italians aim to respect the traditions and to a virtuous and sustainable Christmas, with intelligent menus, combining tradition and innovation. Our health and the environment are certainly pleased.