Why Italian Holiday Meals Start at Noon and Somehow End at Midnight
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Why do Italian holiday meals start at noon and somehow last until midnight? In Italian American families, holiday dinners are not meals, they are endurance events. Antipasto at noon, multiple pasta courses in the afternoon, the turkey or main dish appearing hours later, and a dessert table that looks like a bakery exploded. Espresso flows, conversations overlap, and somehow people are still eating at 10 PM. The Italian holiday feast is not about hunger. It is about keeping the family at the table for as long as possible. The longer the meal lasts, the longer the family stays whole in that moment.