St. Patrick's Day in Italy - Ciao Patrizio

My Irish friends may disagree but it’s easy for Italians to translate the green in their flag to the “wearin of the green” on St. Patrick’s Day and it goes something like this.

St. Patrick

It seems that Italy and Ireland share more than just a band of green in the colors of their flags. Although Italy does not claim St. Patrick as their favorite son, Patrick’s parents were citizens of Rome. Born in Roman Britain Patrick was kidnapped from his home by Irish raiders and sold into slavery in Ireland.

He escaped and returned to become one of the world's most popular saints and the patron of Ireland popularizing many myths and legends inspiring people all over the world to eat, drink and be merry in the middle of March. However there was an Irish influence in Italy long before Patrick and of course it centered around food.

The Dancers, Etruscan Painted Tomb of the Lionesses,Tarqunia

Celtic tribes from central Europe, hearing of the well-laid tables of the Italian Etruscans, were attracted to the region of Eturia (now known as Italy). Around 350BC the Celts built a settlement alongside an Etruscan village near Monterenzio near Bologna in central Italy and began to invite themselves over for dinner. Archeological remains of clay pots, bronze cooking vessels and cheese graters may have established the Etruscans as the original “foodies”. The Celts who raised pigs for food shared their taste for pork with the Etruscans.

Ciauscolo (foto attribution Italy Magazine)

This relationship between the Etruscans and Celts resulted in ciauscolo, a spreadable cured pork sausage similar to 'nduja but milder still made in the Marche and parts of Umbria.

So began a Celtic-Italian fusion that inspired me to celebrate St.Patrick's Day “wearin’ the green”, white and red colors of Il Tricolore, the Italian flag.

St. Patrick's Day in Italy - Ciao Patrizio (A St. Patrick's Day Tour of Italy)

There are many Irish pubs in Italy and you can be sure they will be serving Guinness on draught and Irish whiskey along with pasta and pizza and Irish Espresso. Take a St. Patrick’s Day tour of Italy beginning with Italy’s Celtic roots and then travel to Rome to visit its Irish churches. St. Isidore, San Clemente near the Roman Colosseum (known for its frescoes and 12th century mosaics), San Silvestro and St. Patrick with its Celtic design cathedral windows. A burial plaque commemorating Brian Boru’s son, King Donnchadh of Munster, can be found among the Roman columns of the 4th century basilica of St. Stefano Rotondo where he is buried and the Irish Chapel of St. Columbanus is located in Vatican City beneath St. Peter's Basilica. The Embassy of Ireland to the Holy See has published a beautiful map of religious and historic connections of Ireland in Rome.

Recipe for Irish Espresso

Irish Coffee Mug by Libbey

Best made in the traditional six-ounce Irish Coffee mug with a footed pedestal base designed to showcase the distinct layers within the rounded hourglass bowl to help concentrate the aromas of the coffee and whiskey while supporting a thick collar of cream.

There should be a clearly defined separation between the black mix of coffee, whiskey, and sugar, and the creamy white float on top.