December is the month when Lunigiana chestnut flour definitively gives way to buridda. Yes, because culinary Liguria is not just focaccia and trofie with pesto, but also features various typical dishes for the winter season. Certainly less known, especially by boaters who do not frequent the area during the colder period, but no less appetizing for that.

Autumn lovers must now give up the dishes they have waited for all year: desserts made with chestnut flour. Sweet, very fragrant, it is characterized by a typical velvety texture. The long processing makes the product very sought after, as does the limited period. Chestnuts are harvested between late September and mid-December and require about 25 days to dry.

The handover to buridda comes with the first real cold. The fish-based soup is a typically Ligurian dish to be consumed between December and April. Made with mushrooms, parsley, and fish, it warms the body and satisfies the stomach. There are several varieties: the most common include the use of cuttlefish, dogfish, or stockfish. Traditionally, it is served on Holy Thursday, but it remains a must throughout the cold period.

The period is approaching when typical Christmas sweets can be enjoyed. The most well-known in Italy is undoubtedly pandolce, similar to the traditional panettone but different in dough. The typical recipe includes candied fruits, raisins, and pine nuts as ingredients, to make the sweet even more flavorful. Strongly linked to Genoese tradition, in the United States it is known as “Genoa cake”. Tradition dictates that the youngest in the family inserts a bay leaf twig inside the pandolce, to bring luck to those who eat it.

Also very Christmas-like is the spongata, a dessert of Emilian origin but with a Ligurian and a Tuscan version. The Ligurian one comes from the city of Sarzana, which used cinnamon, chopped dried figs, and fig jam as ingredients on the cake made with a puff pastry base. The traditional Emilian version generally includes apples or pears, along with pine nuts or almonds. Crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, it is usually shaped with a wooden mold to achieve a perfect form.

A completely different kind of dish is cappon magro, composed of vegetables and fish. Originally a poor man’s dish, today it is one of the most sumptuous you can find on a Ligurian table. The most used fish for the broth are sea bass, gilthead bream, and snapper, while the garnish is often made with shrimp, lobsters, and crayfish. Cappon magro is a typical dish of the period between Christmas and Easter. Being meat-free, it is very suitable for the Lent period. Among all the winter offerings of Liguria, it is the one that accompanies the return of spring and the beautiful season.