December 4, 2014 at 7:57 am
· Filed under Christmas, Entertaining, Recipes
Seven courses mean smaller portions, like
this taste of grilled octopus. Photo courtesy
Scrapetta | Beverly Hills. |
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You’ve still got plenty of time to plan a Feast of the Seven Fishes for Christmas Eve. Known as Esta dei Sette Pesci in Italy, the tradition was brought to the U.S. by Italian immigrants.
Some background:
The tradition of eating seafood on Christmas Eve dates back to medieval times, to the Roman Catholic tradition of abstaining from meat or milk products on Fridays and specific holy days. Fish, typically fried in oil, was most often substituted.
Other traditional dishes included baccalà (salted cod fish), calamari and seafood (oysters, scallops, shrimp, smelts).
The tradition is believed to have started in southern Italy, in areas like Naples and Sicily. It is not a tradition in northern Italy.
Italian Catholics would receive Holy Communion during Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. In the spirit of the holiday, there was abstention from meat prior to receiving communion.
The seven fishes may have represented the seven days of the week, but some families serve 13 varieties of fish, representing Jesus and the 12 apostles.
You don’t have to be a follower of the faith to participate in the feast. Adapt the tradition to your own celebration.
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WHAT SHOULD YOU SERVE?
Anything goes. Italy has a wealth of coastline, so options were plentiful.
You don’t have to cook it all: Assemble a group of people to bring their favorite fish and seafood dishes (a curated potluck).
If you want to feast but don’t want to cook, check with local restaurants. For example, Chef Tony DiSalvo of the Viceroy Hotel in Santa Monica, California is presenting this tempting Feast of Seven Fishes menu at his restaurant, Cast:
Course 1: Baby Kale Caesar, White Anchovies, Garlic Croutons, Shaved Parmesan
Course 2: Kusshi Oysters, Mignonette, Cocktail Sauce
Course 3: Smoked Trout and Avocado, “Chips and Dip”
Course 4: Dungeness Crab Toast, Yuzu Mayonnaise
Course 5: Grilled Octopus Salad, Chickpeas, Olives and Feta
Course 6: Homemade Linguine with Clams, Mussels and Shrimp, Chilies and Herbs
Course 7: Lobster Risotto, Bisque Emulsion, Tarragon, Chervil and Chives
Dessert: Traditional Italian Cookies, Coffee, Tiramisu and homemade Limoncello
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MORE IDEAS
Each course is half the size of a normal portion, and you can make easy-to-prepare appetizers for most of them. Here’s what we’ve served in past years:
Crab dip with crudités
Oyster shooters
Seafood paté or tuna-olive tapenade
Seafood chowder
Carpaccio or sashimi
Smoked salmon or gravlax
Shrimp cocktail
Crab cakes
Marinated seafood salad (calamari, octopus, shrimp, green and black olives, onion) over greens
Fried calamari
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Lobster risotto. Photo courtesy MackenzieLtd.com.
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Angel hair pasta with lobster, scallops or shrimp in a tomato cream sauce
Squid ink pasta with scallops and red caviar
Seafood risotto
Our favorite salmon dish of the moment
For a kids’ menu, considera California roll, jumbo grilled shrimp, tuna noodle casserole, a seafood pasta dish and seafood-vegetable skewers.
Here’s more about the Feast Of The Seven Fishes.
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