The Feast of the Seven Fishes
The Feast of the Seven Fishes is a Christmas Eve tradition that has its roots in Southern Italy and is extremely popular in America. The tradition of eating fish on Christmas Eve stems from the Roman Catholic custom of fasting on Wednesdays, Fridays and the eves of certain holidays. Seven is a symbolic biblical number (seven sacraments, God creating the world in seven days) and is also the number of hills around which Rome is built.
Truth be told, it doesn’t matter how many fish you choose to serve–some people choose to serve more, others less.
We’ve listed seven popular Christmas Eve fish preparations below:
- Baccala’ – this salt cod can be served many ways, we suggest baccala’ mantecato.
- Fried Calamari (crispy squid…always a crowd pleaser!)
- Linguine with Clam Sauce (red or white)
- Zuppa di Pesce – a delicious seafood stew made from a variety of fishes.
- Scungilli Salad – preparations vary, but it’s always nice with some celery and black olives.
- Marinated anchovies – there are many ways you can do this, but we like this recipe.
- Shrimp Parmesan – switching out eggplant or chicken for shrimp in this preparation with tomato sauce and parmigiano.
Buon appetito & buon natale!