Italian party in Curitiba serves 12 tons of polenta and fried chicken

Meet the oldest volunteers at the gastronomic and cultural event that has been happening in Santa Felicidade since the 80s

It's been a week since the Italian community of Saint Joseph and Saint Felicidade Parish is preparing, at full steam, 20 tons of chicken, polenta, risotto and pasta. Around 350 people gather to hold the 36th edition of the Chicken, Polenta and Wine Festival. The event started this Friday (6) and continues until Sunday (8), at Bosque São Cristóvão, in Santa Felicidade, Curitiba.

Volunteers come together to prepare food for the Chicken and Polenta Festival in Santa Felicidade. Photo: Marina Mori

During the three days, which promise to attract 20 thousand people, approximately 5 thousand kilos of polenta, 7 thousand kilos of chicken, 4 thousand kilos of pasta and the same amount of risotto will be served. In addition to traditional Italian cuisine, the event's attractions include folk and musical performances, a craft fair and colonial products. Every detail of the event is carried out by volunteers and all proceeds from the party go towards the parish's social works and the restoration of the Main Church of São José and Santa Felicidade, the neighborhood's main historical heritage.

Benito Antonio Azonin and Antonio Basso: veterans of the Party. Photo: Marina Mori

Almost four decades of volunteering

Friends Benito Antonio Azonin, 81, and Antonio Basso, 83, are veterans of the Chicken, Polenta and Wine Festival. The calm walk of both men among the fryers full of hot oil reveals a familiarity that only those who have participated in the event since its inauguration can have. “This is our family outside the home,” says Benito, smiling.

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Antonio agrees. “It’s very tiring, but we help willingly,” he adds, as he watches the polenta sticks fry. Together, the descendants of Italians born and raised in Santa Felicidade remember the time when the party was held improvised in the middle of Bosque São Cristóvão. “It was just grass. Our shoes were full of mud, but it was always worth it. Today it is 120% better”, they guarantee.

History

The festival was created in the 1980s. A strong period of rain left a considerable amount of grapes that had not been sold at the traditional Grape Festival, held annually in February.

In order not to lose production, one of the solutions found by the community was to produce wine and hold another party in the middle of the year to sell it. It was a success. The Chicken, Polenta and Wine Festival has established itself as another gastronomic event in Santa Felicidade.

“Instead of being sad about not having sold the grapes, we turned the worry into a happy opportunity. And it couldn’t have been better”, says Father Cláudio Ambrozio, parish priest at the church for 16 years and responsible for organizing the event.

The Chicken, Polenta and Wine Festival continues at Memorial Italiano, in Bosque São Cristóvão, this Saturday (7) until 23 pm and continues on Sunday (8) from 9 am to 18 pm.

Tickets cost R$5 (children under 10 are free). Dishes are served in portions and cost from R$8 (salad). Chicken with polenta costs R$20; pasta bolognese and chicken risotto cost R$15 each and the barbecue – served with salad and French bread – R$35.

To drink, water (R$ 3); soft drink (R$ 4); draft beer (400 ml – R$ 6) and beer (R$ 5), as well as wine by the glass, mulled wine, bottles and bottles of wine, grape juice. The event also has sweet and savory stalls.

by Marina Mori and Talita Boros Voitch / Gazeta do Povo