Make Your Own Feast of the Seven Fishes
Bring this Italian-American Christmas Eve tradition to your table
Christmas Eve and Christmas are celebrated differently throughout the world, with some people choosing to have the larger celebrations as a Christmas Day dinner and others having a feast on the eve of the holiday.
For Italian Americans, Christmas Eve is celebrated with the Feast of the Seven Fishes, a multi-course meal with only one set rule: it must contain seven types of seafood.
The Feast of the Seven Fishes tradition started in Southern Italy, where seafood is abundant, to create a bountiful family meal that adheres to the Catholic practice of abstaining from eating meat on Fridays or Christmas Eve. The “seven” fishes also pay homage to the seven sacraments in Catholicism.
The feast was brought to the United States and is now considered a beloved holiday tradition in many households.
Michael Mayer, executive chef of the Kimpton Shorebreak Fort Lauderdale, hosts an annual Feast of the Seven Fishes at the hotel’s Italian restaurant, La Fuga (reservations can be made through OpenTable).
If you’re not planning to be in sunny South Florida for the holidays, Mayer has some tips to create this elaborate feast at home.
First and foremost, there are no rules to this feast, according to the chef, who likes to offer several options so guests can create their culinary journey.
Mayer continues, “If you were to create the feast for guests at home on Christmas Eve, I suggest starting with some smaller bite-type dishes, like maybe sardines on a baguette or some baked oysters, before moving into the heartier main course dishes.”
The chef also likes to add a salad course. “Cold salad with calamari and scungilli is pretty traditional.”
Of course, no Italian meal is complete without a pasta dish. For Christmas Eve, Mayer likes to prepare linguine alla vongole.
At the end of the day, Mayer suggests working with whatever seafood is freshest in your locality. “Most importantly you should prepare what you are comfortable making and what you enjoy eating. Shrimp, clams, shellfish, even stone crabs work well here in South Florida.” A selection of fresh seafood can also be incorporated into a fantastic raw tower.
The dishes needn’t be elaborate, either. The chef also enjoys serving a platter of seared branzino with a simple relish or olives and capers in olive oil, as one of the courses.
Whatever you do, remember that a Christmas Eve meal is about breaking bread with the people you love. “Make sure you have plenty of food and get to sit down and enjoy the meal yourself as well, “ says Mayer.