In Italian, the term ‘americanata’ refers to something eccentric and exaggerated. Sometimes it is also used with the intention of criticizing any American custom adopted in a somewhat forced way in Italy, as is the case of Halloween.

This festival is increasingly popular among children and adults, but there is no shortage of critics who argue that it has no roots in Italy and that it has been copied from films for purely materialistic purposes.

In the Italian tradition, on 1 and 2 November the day of Ognissanti (All Saints) and the Day of the Dead are celebrated respectively. On these dates in Italy, the deceased are remembered with different traditions depending on the area and some are surprisingly similar to those that Halloween brings with it.

In various regions of Italy, on the night between 1 and 2 November a little gift is usually left for the deceased who come to visit the family: in Lombardia it can be a simple glass of water, some wine, a pumpkin or the ‘pan dei morti’ (bread of the dead), a sweet bread made with flour, biscuits, almonds, raisins and figs. In Trentino, Piemonte and Valle d'Aosta, on the other hand, a table with plates, glasses and cutlery is prepared and left overnight. In Abruzzo, in addition to leaving the table prepared, they used to leave carved pumpkins with a candle inside and in Friuli it was also traditional to carve pumpkins.

In some cases, the food is not given to the dead, but to the living, such as in Veneto, where it was traditional to give the girls who would soon get married a bag with cookies, the ‘favette dei morti’ (beans of the dead). Legend has it that a young man returned to Venice after months of sailing on the night of 31 October and he showed up at his beloved's house to ask for her hand. As a gift he had brought her some beans, purchased months earlier. The soon-to-be-bride opened the little box and was upset to see the beans in bad condition. To remedy it, the boy went to the best pastry chef in the city and asked him to prepare some sweet beans.

In Liguria, it is traditional to eat the ‘balletti’ (boiled chestnuts) and the on the night of 1 November, kids used to go from house to house to receive the ‘Bene dei morti’, that is beans, dried figs and chestnuts before listening to the scary stories and legends that their grandparents told them.

In Sardinia, something similar was done, although the children used to go out on the morning of 2 November and receive bread, beans, almonds, raisins, pomegranates and other autumn produce.

In Rome, on the other hand, it was traditional to have lunch next to the tomb of a loved one so that they would not feel alone.

But the most endearing tradition is undoubtedly Sicilian. When the children woke up on 2 November, under the beds they found some gifts that their deceased relatives had left them during the night, together with the ‘pupi di zuccaro’ (sugar dolls) or the ‘frutta di martorana’ (fruit made with coloured almond paste). The Sicilian writer Andrea Camilleri narrates his memories of the Day of the Dead in one of the stories collected in Racconti quotidiani. For those who want to test their Italian, it is possible to read the story here.

If instead you want to try some of the most typical dishes and sweets for the feast of All Saints, you can start your search here.