TheFeast of the Seven Fishes(Italian:Festa dei Sette Pesci) is anItalian Americancelebration ofChristmas Evewith dishes of fish and otherseafood.[1][2]It is not a "feast" in the sense of "holiday", but rather a grand meal. Christmas Eve is a vigil or fasting day, and the abundance of seafood reflects the observance of abstinence from meat until the feast of Christmas Day itself.[1][3]
Origins and tradition
editThe Feast of the Seven Fishes typically consists of seven different seafood dishes. The tradition comes fromSouthern Italy,where it is known as The Vigil (La Vigilia), but with no mention of the number seven. This celebration commemorates the wait, theVigilia di Natale,for the midnight birth of the babyJesus.The long tradition of eating seafood on Christmas Eve dates from theRoman Catholictradition ofabstainingfrom eating meat on the eve of a feast day.[1]As no meat or animal fat could be used on such days, observant Catholics would instead eat fish (typically fried in oil). It is unclear when or where the term "Feast of the Seven Fishes" was popularized. Nick Vadala, writing forThe Philadelphia Inquirerfound the newspaper's oldest reference to the feast in a 1983 article.[4][5]
The meal includes seven or more fishes that are considered traditional. "Seven fishes" as a fixed concept or name is unknown in Italy. In some Italian-American families, there is no count of the number of fish dishes. A well-known dish isbaccalà(salted cod fish). Friedsmelts,calamariand other types of seafood have been incorporated into the Christmas Eve dinner over the years.
The number seven may come from the sevenSacraments of the Catholic Church,or theseven hills of Rome,or some other source. There is no general agreement on its meaning.[1][2]
Typical feast
editThe meal's components may include some combination ofanchovies,whiting,lobster,sardines,baccalà(dried saltcod),smelts,eels,squid,octopus,shrimp,musselsandclams.[2]The menu may also include pasta, vegetables, baked goods and wine.
Popular dishes
edit
- Baccalàwith pasta, as a salad, or fried
- Bakedcod
- Clams casino
- Codfish ballsintomato sauce
- Dolphinfish
- Deep friedcalamari
- Deep fried cod
- Deep fried fish/shrimp
- Deep friedscallops
- Friedsmelts
- Insalata di mare(seafood salad)
- Linguine withanchovy,clam,lobster,tuna,orcrabsauce
- Marinated or friedeel
- Octopussalad
- Oystershooters
- Puttanescawithanchovies
- Scungillisalad
- Shrimp cocktail
- Stuffedcalamariin tomato sauce
- Stuffed-baked lobsters
- Stuffed-bakedquahogs
- Whiting
In popular culture
edit- The graphic novelFeast of the Seven Fishes,written by Robert Tinnell (2005;ISBN0976928809), has been made into a feature film also titledFeast of the Seven Fishes,featuringSkyler GisondoandMadison Iseman,released 15 November 2019.[6]
- Iron Chef Showdownhad the feast of the seven fishes as a secret ingredient.[7]
- The Bear,season 2, Episode 6: the Berzatto family meet for a Feast of the Seven Fishes: a traumatic, dysfunctional flashback where they argue at one point over the ambiguous origins of the feast — and where one guest brings an eighth fish dish, thrown out because it could ostensibly bring bad luck. The fishes also end up as a final dish for The Bear.[8]
- If You Give Me Seven Fishesa song written and performed by artistTony Trovin the style ofLouis Primawas released on Spotify, Apple Music and Youtube in 2023.[9][10]
See also
edit- Italian-American cuisine
- List of Christmas dishes
- List of dining events
- Twelve-dish Christmas Eve supper,a similar meal in Central and Eastern European Catholic culture
References
edit- ^abcdMelissa Clark(16 December 2013)."Surf's Up on Christmas Eve. Feasting on Fish to the Seventh Degree".The New York Times.Retrieved30 December2013.
It's a Southern Italian (and now Italian-American) custom in which a grand meal of at least seven different kinds of seafood is served before midnight Mass The fish part comes from the Catholic practice of abstaining from meat on Christmas Eve, while the number may refer to the seven sacraments.
- ^abcCraig Claiborne(16 December 1987)."A Seven-Course Feast of Fish".The New York Times.Retrieved30 December2013.
It is a Christmas Eve ritual handed down from mother to son. Every year,Ed Giobbi,the artist and cookbook author, serves a holiday feast of seven fish dishes (seven for the seven sacraments). Each dish is cooked in a different manner – broiled, fried, baked and so on – or uses a different main ingredient. There is generally a fish or seafood salad and, inevitably, pasta served with a seafood sauce....
- ^Marchetti, Domenica (25 December 2012)."Feast of the Seven Fishes: only in America".American Food Roots.Retrieved27 August2013.
- ^Vadala, Nick (13 December 2021)."Where to eat the Feast of the Seven Fishes in the Philadelphia area".Philadelphia Inquirer.Retrieved17 December2021.
- ^"7 Facts About the Feast of the Seven Fishes".mentalfloss.19 December 2018.Retrieved17 December2021.
- ^"Feast of the Seven Fishes".1 November 2018 – via imdb.
- ^"Iron Chef Showdown recap: Italian themed holidays reign supreme".foodsided.7 December 2017.
- ^"The Bear(TV Series 2022- ) - Episode list - IMDb".13 September 2023 – via imdb.
- ^Newall, Mike (7 December 2023)."South Fellini's hilarious new Christmas song is a ode to the Feast of Seven Fishes".Retrieved19 December2023.
- ^DeLuca, Dan (11 December 2023)."All the best new Christmas songs not sung by the Eagles. (Plus some of those, too)".Retrieved19 December2023.
External links
edit- Feast of the Seven Fishes blogat theWayback Machine(archived 2 October 2017)
- Christmas Eve Fish Dinnerat thefoodtable
- Christmas Eve Dinnerat italiansrus
- The feast of the 7 (or 13) fishes (Italian and English)
