Feast of the Seven Fishes

Feast of the Seven Fishes (Festa dei Sette Pesci) is an Italian-American celebration of Christmas Eve. The tradition comes from southern Italy, where it is known as The Vigil (La Vigilia), and commemorates the wait for the midnight birth of the baby Jesus, Vigilia di Natale. It is a day of fasting that ends with a meal that doesn't contain meat or dairy, traditionally a meal with fish or other seafood dishes. (Meat may be eaten again on Christmas Day.) Seafood is prominent in southern Italy, and many of those who emigrated from there to the United States in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries brought their food traditions with them, including foods eaten on the Feast of the Seven Fishes.

Feast of the Seven Fishes stems from the Roman Catholic tradition of abstaining from meat on the eve of a feast day when Catholics usually ate fish instead. It is not a religious holiday, although many who participate are religious. For those who are Catholic, it is often accompanied by midnight mass, with the meal being served after the trip to church. It's unknown where the number seven came from, but it may stem from the seven Sacraments of the Catholic Church or the seven hills of Rome.

Some believe that all seven dishes must be fish, but more often than not, the seven dishes are of both fish and other seafood. The meal is usually spread out, with many smaller dishes, not seven main ones. An example of a common meal is one that includes three appetizers, a soup, pasta, and an entree with a side salad. One of the most common foods is baccalà (salted cod fish), either in pasta, as a salad, or fried. Other common foods served are smelt, calamari, anchovies, lobster, whiting, sardines, shrimp, eels, octopus, mussels, and clams. Other common dishes are clams casino, cod fish balls in tomato sauce, Insalata di mare (Italian seafood salad), and deep-fried cod, shrimp, scallops, or calamari. Pasta, vegetables (often fried), baked goods, and wine often complement the meal.

How to Observe Feast of the Seven Fishes

Enjoy the Feast of Seven Fishes with friends and family. Buy seafood from a reputable fishmonger and prepare baccalà, clams casino, cod fish balls in tomato sauce, Insalata di mare, and other seafood dishes to build your meal. Many recipes can be found online, compiled in articles like "55 Seafood Recipes For Your Feast of the Seven Fishes Dinner" and "Seafood Dishes to Add to Your Feast of the Seven Fishes Menu," or can be found in recipe books. You also could watch Feast of the Seven Fishes, a film directed by Robert Tinnell, and read his graphic novel of the same name.

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