On November 1st and 2nd in Mexico and many other Spanish Speaking countries, the day of the dead will be celebrated by the people. On this day the people are celebrating with food, music, dance, and altars that are dedicated to the deceased. It is believed that the spirits of the deceased come back to earth to celebrate with the living.

My question is: Is this holiday celebrated in any part of Italy and if so what are the traditions?

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The only tradition I can think of are a kind of biscuits called Ossa dei Morti ("Bones of the Deads", Biscotti Ossa dei Morti : NonSoloPrimi here is the recipe in Italian), which people usually eat in these days.
If one's a Catholic churchgoer, there is the traditional Mass on Nov. 2nd, which usually takes place in the local cemetery.

Catholic people celebrate that in Italy, I don't know about specific traditions, in the South people usually go to the graveyard and to mass on 2 November. Stef I didn't know of masses held inside the cemetery, here it doesn't happen.

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I wish we had things like that here in America. We are so afraid of being politically correct here that we miss out on all the good traditions. If we ever had Mass outside there would be all kinds of outcry from all kinds of activist groups claiming that people's civil rights were being violated!

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I found this on the net...a recipe for favi de morti which are consumed on Day of the dead.

Fave dei morti

In Italy there is the “Day of the Saints” on the First of November and the “Day of the Deceased” on the second. This cookie is traditionally made for the latter. In fact the translation of the name would be,”Fava (beans) of the Deceased.”

Ingredients:

2 cups peeled almonds
1/3 cup pine nuts
1 - 1/3 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 egg yolks
1 egg
lemon zest from 1/2 lemon
pinch of cinnamon
1 Tbsp. Italian grappa



Instructions:

1. Chop the almonds finely. I do it in a food processor by turning it on and off quickly until I have the desired size. Don’t just turn it on and let it run or they turn into a cream.
2. Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl and then combine the eggs one at the time.
3. Once they are mixed in well the dough should start to hold together.
4. A bit at a time roll into long rolls about 1/2 inch thick.
5. Cut them into pieces about 3/4 inch long.
6. Poke each one with your finger to make a sort of dent in the middle.
7. Place them on a baking sheet which has been greased with butter and dusted with flour.
8. Beat the egg whites slightly with a fork and gently brush some of it on the cookies. Just a bit.
9. Bake them for 15 to 20 minutes at 325°.
10. Serve once they’ve cooled.

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