You don’t need a mountain in your backyard or even snow on the ground to enjoy all that après-ski has to offer. Whether you love winter, comfort food, or both, après-ski is a great excuse to get together with loved ones and toast to togetherness in celebration of the season.
While it might sound like it, après-ski isn’t exclusive to skiers. You can capture the essence at home by hosting your own après-ski gathering, or even an upcoming Winter Olympics watch party, with the help of Emmy Award-winning chef and Food Network personality Giada De Laurentiis.
The Significance of Après-Ski
First, a mini linguistics lesson. Simply put, après-ski is French for “after ski,” but it encompasses so much more. Slope regulars know that après-ski is a time for food, drink, and merriment after a day out in the cold.
“As much as I love skiing, I love the moment after I’m done skiing,” De Laurentiis says. “It’s that ability to look forward to this moment—now I get the payoff of it.” From relaxing in a hot tub to enjoying a refreshingly crisp beer, the party is just getting started when it comes to après-ski.
Giada’s Après-Ski Menu Must-Haves
To re-create the après-ski atmosphere at home, there are a few staples De Laurentiis recommends, influenced by her upbringing in Northern Italy, where she logged plenty of hours on the slopes.
Preparation
If après-ski is new to you, the idea of preparing a fitting menu might be a little daunting. But the most important part is sharing food with loved ones. “It’s really about sharing a moment, through food and with food, and slowing down our lives a little bit,” De Laurentiis says.
You can take a lot of pressure off yourself by prepping food in advance, she adds. “The one thing that a lot of people struggle with when they’re entertaining is the planning of the menu in advance,” De Laurentiis says. “Everything as much as possible, get it done in advance.”
Beverages
A cold, refreshing beer: First on the list for De Laurentiis is a “super, super, super ice cold” Peroni Nastro Azzurro, one of Italy’s most iconic beers. De Laurentiis is the official spokesperson of Peroni’s current campaign, which includes a limited launch of Peroni Gold Bottles in celebration of the Olympics. De Laurentiis enjoys her Nastro Azzurro with a citrusy twist. “I really like to squeeze a little bit of lemon in it,” she says. “To me, it brings out the flavor and brings up the effervescence.”
An ultra-thick Italian hot chocolate: Hot chocolate is also an après-ski must, and in Italy, hot chocolate—cioccolata calda—is quite a treat. “It’s a really thick chocolate,” De Laurentiis says. “It’s almost like you just melted chocolate, and that’s it.”
Bites
When it comes to curating an après-ski menu, start with the basics. “I think of colors and textures when I create a menu,” De Laurentiis says. “That’s the first thing I think of.”
To bring a memorable splash of color to your table, De Laurentiis recommends some form of risotto alla Milanese, perfectly on-theme for the upcoming Winter Olympics in Milan. “The saffron is so rich in color and creamy. A lot of times for an après-ski aperitivo, I would make the risotto in advance, cool it, and then make it into little balls and fry it like little arancini,” De Laurentiis says.
For something even more filling, ossobuco is also a very popular dish in Northern Italy that can be made into small bites for an après-ski party. “You could do a short rib bruschetta and make like a faux ossobuco,” De Laurentiis says. “It’s hearty, and it’s bite-sized.”
Then, get out your muffin tins for one final savory bite. “You can also make little frittatas and kind of dump whatever you want—cheese, sausage, artichokes, whatever,” De Laurentiis says.
Remember to Slow Down
Après-ski is not a black-tie affair. It’s about connection and savoring the day you had. Although après-ski has French roots, the atmosphere it invites is also very Italian, which is something De Laurentiis hopes both party hosts and Olympians remember this winter.
“These are the moments that ground us and create culture and create memories that bond us as human beings,” De Laurentiis says. “Take a deep breath and slow it down—that’s something that Italians do very well.”
Dining and Cooking