21 Seafood Recipes for a Feast of the Seven Fishes (2024)

FAQs

What is the Italian tradition of seven fishes on Christmas Eve? ›

This tradition connects back to the long-standing Italian tradition of vigilia, a day of fasting that ends with a meal that excludes meat and dairy. After a full day of fasting on Christmas Eve, imagine the vigil night of December 24 as an endless feast of fish and pasta to fill hungry bellies.

There is no such thing as the Feast of Seven Fishes on the Roman Catholic calendar. There never has been an official feast with this name in Italy or the United States. In fact, most sources agree that serving fish on Christmas Eve is mainly practiced by Southern Italians, when it's practiced at all.

La Vigilia di Natale (Christmas Eve) Foods

The emphasis is on freshness and variety, both of seafood type and cooking method. And, of course, the specific seafood and dishes vary by region. One might begin with a frittura di pesce (fried fish), which could include calamari, baby octopus, or paranza (mixed tiny fish).

The type of seafood prepared for this feast is similar for most families as there are always seven combinations of anchovies, sardines, dried salt cod, smelts, eels, squid, octopus, shrimp, mussels, oysters, and clams. Spaghetti with Sardines is a typical pasta served for this meal.

The significance of the seven fishes has a number of symbolic representations: the number of sacraments, the seven days of creation, the seven virtues, the seven deadly sins and the seven days it took Mary and Joseph to reach Bethlehem before baby Jesus was born.

To the surprise and shock of many Italian-Americans, the long-held holiday meal tradition in which seven different seafood dishes are served on Christmas Eve is virtually unknown to most Italians living in Italy.

Italian-American families rekindled the Old Country's Christmas Eve tradition by preparing a seven-course seafood meal (hence the name of the newly found tradition) that both made them feel close to their homes, while celebrating the sea, a major connection in Italy.

Fish provides the main dish of the Christmas Eve feast across Poland. There are variations of carp fillet, carp in aspic, gefilte fish (Jewish-style carp), sweet with onions, carrots, almonds and raisins. Accompaniments consist of cabbage, cooked red or sauerkraut with apple salad.

The feast of the seven fishes is based on ancient Catholic tradition. Learn how to celebrate this Christmas Eve banquet! For centuries, Catholics fasted before important holy days, including Christmas Day. They held “vigil” from sunset to sunrise, symbolically awaiting the holy event to come.

Feast of the Seven Fishes, also known as La Vigilia (The Vigil), is a Sicilian-American traditional dinner on Christmas Eve. Like many Italian traditions, the origin and rules are debated.

What day of the week do Catholics eat fish? ›

Fish and other designated seafood are traditionally eaten by Catholics on Fridays due to the prohibition on eating meat on that day.

According to tradition, the meal for Christmas Eve, La Vigilia, doesn't have any meat. It's all fish and vegetables. That's in keeping with most meals served on the eve before a religious festival in Italy: You're supposed to have a giorno di magro, eating lean to help purify your body for the holiday.

Italian children call Santa Claus 'Babbo Natale'. He is becoming more popular in Italy for gift giving on Christmas Day but La Befana, the old woman who delivers gifts on Epiphany on 6th January, is still more common.

For a full Italian breakfast, Christmas is the ideal time of year to slow down and indulge. Since Christmas Eve dinner is part of the celebration, the traditional Italian breakfast items for this time of year include leftover pandoro, a sweet bread, or panettone and panforte, two types of fruit bread.

The number seven stems from the biblical importance of the number and its lucky connotation. While many of these symbols are taken from Catholicism and Italian tradition, the Feast of the Seven Fishes is virtually unheard of in Italy and instead is considered an Italian-American tradition.

The hearty fiambre salad is probably the largest you'll ever have—it can include up to 50 ingredients! The giant salad's origins begin with All Saints' Day. To honor their departed loved ones, family members would bring different foods to their family graves.