According to BBC; In the misty, stony villages of the Abruzzese region in ceral Italy, an ancie tradition known as Panarda is kept alive, rooted in local legends and religious thanksgiving. This ceremony, which was once held to pay vows to “Sai Aonio”, today has become one of the most glamorous and at the same time the most iimate banquets in the world, where guests sit around a table that sometimes has more than 30 types of traditional and local food on it.
According to oral traditions, this ritual began ceuries ago after the miraculous rescue of a child from the mouth of a wolf, and since then, the people of this region have been celebrating nature’s bouy and divine protection by setting up endless tables.
Photographer: unknown / nationalgeographic
What makes Panarda tangible and attractive to foreign observers is not only the unique variety of foods, but the collective spirit that prevails in it, where all the villagers, young and old, participate in baking the holy breads and preparing the large copper cauldrons. In this feast, which sometimes lasts uil dawn, eating is not a daily act, but a ritual that strengthens the bond between families and neighbors against the hardships of mouain life.
