Many years in the past our household adopted the custom of the Feast of Seven Fishes for our Christmas Eve vacation feast. It’s actually modified through the years, however it’s nonetheless a enjoyable household custom we love doing. If you’re questioning what meals to make for Christmas Eve dinner, give this a attempt!
And sure … there actually are seven sorts of seafood!
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A Way to Keep Tradition Alive
I need to cross on the most effective of our household tradition, traditions, and heritage. For the Italian facet, this usually means passing on the meals and recipes.
Trying to have a wholesome way of life isn’t about throwing traditions centered round meals out of the window. Far from it! Instead, I’ve modified meatball recipes, pasta recipes, and even Christmas cookie recipes to suit our allergic reactions and dietary wants.
One Italian-American custom particularly was straightforward and enjoyable to proceed with our household. It’s known as “The Feast of the Seven Fishes” within the US however merely “La Vigilia,” (the vigil) in southern Italy. As the identify suggests, this custom actually entails making seven (or extra) kinds of fish on Christmas Eve.
Feast of the Seven Fishes: It’s What’s for Christmas Eve Dinner!
There’s a lot debate as to the historic origin of this custom, although we proceed it merely due to its connection to household. Eating fish on Christmas Eve traces again to the Roman Catholic custom of abstaining from meat on Fridays and particular Holy Days. Abstaining from meat on Christmas Eve would have signified ready in anticipation of the Christ Child’s arrival on Christmas morning.
During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, there have been lots of southern Italian immigrants to America (particularly New York). They introduced with them the custom of serving fish dishes on Christmas Eve. Many Italian-American households nonetheless proceed this vacation season custom.
The quantity seven can also be up for debate, as many households serve fewer kinds of fish (and a few function many as 13!). Seven is probably going the commonest quantity due to its robust historic and cultural significance in lots of components of Europe, together with Italy. In biblical historical past, the quantity seven represents completeness and perfection. There are additionally seven sacraments and 7 lethal sins in Catholic teachings.
Does it Have to Be Fish?
Some folks actually do stick with seven kinds of fish at their seafood feast. Others (like myself) simply intention for seven completely different sorts of seafood.
NOTE: You don’t need to make all the dishes without delay to do this custom! I actually didn’t begin making all seven initially. Pick only one or two and also you’ve obtained a festive, significant, and scrumptious Christmas Eve meal.
Our Family’s Version of “La Vigilia“
It’s taken me virtually a decade to lastly get into a great routine for this particular Christmas Eve meal. As you possibly can think about, there could be lots of prep work and cooking concerned! I added a dish every year till I obtained to the total seven.
Now to make it even simpler I make a seafood stew that has most (or all) of the seven fishes in it. There are lots of completely different choices, however listed below are our favourite dishes and ones I’ve usually made for Christmas Eve dinner.
Appetizer Seafood Dishes
Cooking so many dishes can simply get overwhelming and contain an excessive amount of meals. Small appetizers are a great way to honor this Italian-American Christmas Eve custom with out going overboard. Any of those could possibly be served as an appetizer or as a part of the primary meal.
Crab and Clam Arancini
Arancini is a conventional Italian meals, however I’ve added two kinds of seafood to make it match with this meal. The identify means “little orange” and so they’re small fried balls of rice that resemble an orange as soon as cooked. They’re historically full of mozzarella cheese and meat, however I take advantage of seafood, herbs, and peppers for a flavorful various.
Mussels in Wine Sauce
A dish that appears actually fancy however couldn’t be less complicated to make. Since this meal has so many programs, we solely make 2-3 of those per particular person. The youngsters suppose they’re enjoyable and revel in serving to make them. I take advantage of this recipe and blend up the herbs and spices a bit every year.
Scallops in Browned Butter
I really like scallops and so they’re an ideal a part of a vacation meal. Our favourite approach to make them is with a bit browned butter, olive oil, and recent herbs. Since there are such a lot of different dishes at this meal, we solely make one per particular person. My recipe may be very comparable to this one (I simply pass over the capers).
Shrimp Cocktail
This easy appetizer couldn’t be simpler to organize. Boiled after which cooled shrimp are dipped in a zesty, tomato-based sauce. If you don’t have a wholesome premade cocktail sauce obtainable, then attempt this home made one. Primal Kitchen has an unsweetened ketchup that will work properly on this recipe.
Skillet Bang Bang Shrimp with Sriracha Dipping Sauce
All the flavors of the well-known bang-bang shrimp with out the deep frying! I saute shrimp in butter till cooked and serve with a candy chili and sriracha sauce.
Canned Fish
Canned sardines are one other straightforward (and wholesome) appetizer to whip up for this meal. You can mash them within the can and serve them on high of crackers with a slice of cheese. Canned fish actually cuts down on the prep time for this dinner. Here are a number of different concepts for the best way to eat sardines.
Main Dishes
Pasta dishes usually accompany this seafood unfold, however it’s not one thing we usually do.
If you need to prepare dinner some pasta on your meal, listed below are some choices. Sometimes we’ll use gluten-free rice noodles for pasta, or I’ll usually make veggie noodles. Add some home made marinara sauce and also you’re in enterprise! If you’re feeling spicy, attempt some fra diavolo sauce as a substitute.
Baccalà- Salted Cod in Butter & Wine Reduction
Baccalà is a conventional predominant course for the Feast of the Seven Fishes. Traditionally, that is made with true Baccalà cod that’s been preserved in salt and dried. Before I moved to the south this was arduous to search out so I obtained inventive.
I’ve made my very own model utilizing recent cod and salt in a butter and wine sauce. Here’s a basic Baccalà recipe if you wish to make your individual.
Soups, Salads, and Sides
Since the meal is extra complicated we preserve the perimeters tremendous easy on this night time. I’ll usually simply make a recent salad and roast some broccoli. You may even make a seafood salad with this tasty Caesar salad. The dressing is made with salty anchovies and I wish to high it with some sardines.
Shrimp Bisque
A household favourite recreated from a soup we had in a restaurant. This easy shrimp bisque is very easy to make and has superb taste. Making this one at Christmas at all times jogs my memory how good it’s and to place it again within the household meal rotation.
Seafood Stew
Over the years our Christmas Eve dinner routine has modified quite a bit. While I nonetheless make a few of these recipes for the meal, I’ve simplified the method due to this soup. Traditionally generally known as cioppino, seafood stew options hearty fish fillets like halibut and shellfish. It’s a simple approach to pack most (or all) of the 7 kinds of seafood into one predominant dish.
You also can make one thing like this hearty seafood chowder. I’d use arrowroot powder as a substitute of the all-purpose flour although.
Feast of the Seven Fishes Serving Tips
If you’re not counting on a seafood heavy soup, there could be fairly a number of meals to organize without delay. Fortunately, it’s straightforward sufficient to do most of it forward of time. I usually put together every little thing besides the scallops beforehand. I gently reheat the dishes, sauté the scallops, toss the salad, and we’re able to go!
Another approach to make the meal extra festive is to have some particular wines readily available. Since I found Dry Farm Wines, I additionally be sure that I’ve a few of their white wine to serve for an ideal pairing. The youngsters get some glowing fruit-infused water in fancy glasses!
For dessert I’ll often simply serve some recent fruit with a bit whipped cream on high. If you need to go all out on dessert although, listed below are some tasty dessert recipes to attempt.
Do you will have any particular traditions for Christmas Eve or Christmas dinner?