San Donnino part 4: E basta

Over the San Donnino festa weekend we did our own bit to honor the saint by having several bowls of anolini in brodo. One batch we purchased at the Antica Trattoria del Duomo, the best restaurant in town. Later we got another helping from the Latteria delicatessen downstairs. 

Compared to the other pasta specialties of this area--tender square tortelli filled with cheese and herbs or pumpkin, served with melted butter--anolini are a rougher dish. The pasta is a bit thicker, and inside is a mix of little more than breadcrumbs and Parmesan. The anolini are served in a simple, not very rich broth. This is something you can imagine poor peasants dining on when there was not much else to eat.

The last time I had anolini in brodo was during the festa back in 2018, when I bought some from a busy stand just outside our front door. I hadn't liked them much; the broth was over-salted and watery and the filling was harsh, the bite of the cheese untempered. Not surprisingly, the anolini we got from our two upscale local sources were vastly better, although each had its own character. The Antica Trattoria broth was light but flavorful, and the filling of the anolini had just the right balance of starch to cheese, so that they tasted almost creamy. I gobbled them down before I realized I should have taken a photo. 

We had enough broth left over to use with the Latteria's anolini, which had a bit more bite and an interesting, slightly funky overtone. I'm not sure if the Latteria puts a bit of prosciutto into their filling, or the anolini just picked up some of the store's intoxicating smell, but either way they were delicious, too. That's them in the photo above.

On Saturday, Oct. 9, the saint's actual feast day, the party continued. As afternoon gave way to evening the music swelled outside, and the crowds got bigger and more raucous. 

Supposedly everyone in the town's public areas had to have a vaccination green pass, enforced by spot checks. Anyone caught without a pass would face a fine of anywhere from 400 to 1,000 euros (about $450 to $1,150). But we never saw any spot checks going on, and masks weren't worn much, either, especially later in the evening.

Some were cautious.

Many others, not so much.

Once again the music got louder as it got later. I took this video from our balcony at 11:15. Turn your volume up to 11 to get the full effect.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xzqzzbJ19wytV7KqlDf8eHxhKTA05TlY/view?usp=sharing

The playlist that evening included "My Sharona," "Despacito," "YMCA," "Highway to Hell," and, hilariously, "The Song of the Italians," the Italian national anthem, which the crowd was just as happy to dance to and sing along with as all the other oldies. It was adorable.

Thanks to my walk that morning I didn't wake up until after eight in the morning, so I can't report how late the partying went. When we emerged on Sunday the streets were once again tidy and ready for the third and final day of San Donnino.

But the really orgiastic side of the festa seemed to have run its course. On Sunday there was a mass and it's also the day when traditionally everyone goes to Nonna's house and has anolini with the extended family. I went on a walking tour of the city, and later several hundred of us gathered in the main square for the presentation of the annual "citizen of the year" awards. This year our friend Romano was honored for his many contributions to the social and cultural life of Fidenza, and we were happy to be part of the crowd applauding him. Everyone in town loves him, and so do we. Hooray, Romano!

Here's Romano accepting his award, flanked by Fidenza's mayor and the assessore for cultural affairs. Note the mayor's green, white, and red sash, which Italian mayors don whenever they carry out official public duties. 

That evening there was still music and drinking and hubbub, but the crowds were smaller and the music less populist and more random. It sounded like someone's friend's brother had been given a chance to DJ. By midnight the festa was over.

The next morning men and trucks began to remove the benches and tables, the tents and loudspeakers. 

The "urban forest" in front of the town hall will stay up for a while, but otherwise things were pretty much back to normal by Tuesday.

San Donnino, like a lot of really fun things, feels good when it stops, 

The street in front of our place was not exactly quiet--there are always kids crying, dogs barking, and people calling out greetings, talking laughing, talking some more, the usual hubbub of exuberant Italian street life--but now there was just the normal level of tumulto. Actually, it was perhaps a bit quieter, because La Strega, which would normally be doing a brisk business in coffee and breakfast brioche, was closed for the day. 

Their red tent is the same one you see in the video above and a lot of the other photos of Fidentini partying in the streets till all hours. After being at the center of the action all weekend, the Stregans needed a day off. I suspect they were even more glad the festa was over than we were.