Serving a traditional “timballo di maccheroni” at a princely dinner table in Luchino Visconti’s Il Gattopardo (The Leopard)
When winter comes with its chill and its darkness, so does that ancestral need of human beings to protect themselves from the cold, to protect each other. Togetherness is felt as a natural necessity and nothing brings people together more than food. One of the strongest symbolic representations of sharing, food has always brought Italian families together; its quasi-sacral liturgy—sitting together for supper and eating together during the holidays—is a long-lasting peculiarity of Italian culture.