The Feast of the Seven Fishes: 7 recipes from 7 Italian food writers
+ My perfect day, a short Christmas story
Oh, it's such a perfect day / I'm glad I spent it with you
Lou Reed, Perfect day
The Feast of the Seven Fishes
That Italian-American tradition is reminiscent of the Italian habit of the fish menu prepared on Christmas Eve.
For the Catholic Church, this is a so-called lean day, during which one must fast or, at most, abstain from meat consumption, preferring food prepared with humble ingredients. For example, in Bologna, pesce povero from the Adriatic sea, tuna, cod fish, or eel and large eel saved the liturgy from the sins of gluttony.
Every region, town, and family celebrated the holiday by following ancient and frugal eating habits. Since I was born and raised in a Catholic observant family, December 24 was a day of expectation despite the inviting smells from the kitchen.
While on Christmas Day, the big table would welcome the family and numerous relatives, on the evening of the 24th, the meal was an intimate time consumed while waiting for midnight mass.
The dish we ate most often was spaghetti a la Bolognese with tuna.
I have already written about the history of that dish and the substantial difference from the American one in a previous newsletter to which I refer you if you want to learn more (Spaghetti Bolognese exists).
After my wedding, Christmas Eve became an occasion for two families to get together. And the frugal meal became a seafood feast.
Today, what survives of the Catholic prescription, at least for most people, is the theme. Otherwise, over the decades, Christmas Eve dinner has taken on the dimensions of a feast similar to that of the Seven Fishes.
I've told you about myself, tell me something about your Christmas traditions!
The Feast of the Seven Fishes.
7 recipes from 7 Italian food writers
I joined with pleasure to the proposal of Enrica Monzani to create an Italian menu for the Feast of Seven Fishes. Enrica led a group of 7 women food writers, and we wrote a menu for this event.
Anyway, I admit, until last summer, I didn't know that Italian-American habit.
I discovered it through Taste by Stanley Tucci.
In the pages devoted to Christmas celebrations, the author writes
As an Italian Catholic family, though very un-practising, we ate only fish on Christmas Eve. Homemade food from recipes passed down over many generations was our daily fare, but during Christmas this practice was elevated to even greater traditional culinary heights.
In some families this meal is called the Feast of the Seven Fishes, but no one is quite sure why there are seven, other than it is the most used number in the Bible. At any rate, at least seven types of fish were served in my home when I was a kid on Christmas Eve.
The recipes we have chosen belong to the traditions of different Italian regions (Piedmont/Veneto, Liguria, Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, Abruzzo, Sicily).
Each dish represents the contribution of seven Italian food writers linked to the gastronomic tale of their territories.
I leave it to Enrica to introduce the project in her own words:
In this little Christmas project, I involved six friends and colleagues from six different Italian Regions (plus me makes seven!). I asked them to submit some seafood dishes from their land for Christmas Eve, then we discussed them - because putting together a seven-course seafood dinner is not the easiest thing in the world - and finally we launched the menu that you can find attached below.
It’s made up of three entree, a pasta course and three main courses. Seven different fishes, seven different ways of cooking them, seven different Italian cuisines represented.
Here's our menù:
Here’s who we are and our dishes:
Enrica Monzani, from Liguria,Taste of Liguriahere on Substack, with Brandacujun (potatoes and stockfish spread) croutons
Gilua Scarpaleggia, from Tuscany,
here on Substack, with Oven baked sea bream with potatoesDomenica Marchetti, from Abruzzo,
here on Substack, with Gabriella’s stewed calamariCarlotta Panza, from Piedmont,La Panza Pienahere on Substack, with Bagna Cauda (anchovy and garlic sauce with raw vegetables)
Fabrizia Lanza, from Sicily, @fabrizialanza on IG, with Double-crust swordfish pie
Valentina Raffaelli, from Trentino, @valentina.raffaelli on IG, with Roasted Polenta with marinated herrings
And me! Monica Campagnoli, from Emilia Romagna,Tortellini&CO
here on Substack, with Tuna Spaghetti a la Bolognese
That is a gift for you all! Each recipe comes with a historical introduction and a brief bio of the author.
Download and enjoy our menù for the Feast of the Seven Fishes
And if you'd like, leave a comment telling me what you think and whether you already know all these regional traditions. I hope one or more of these recipes will become part of your repertoire.
Upcoming newsletter
Thursday, December 28, The year to come
Wednesday, January 3 2024, The sweets of the Epiphany
My perfect day. A Christmas tale
The Tale of my perfect day is not about a big event. You won't find plot twists, early mysteries, or dramatic endings. It is simply a story, mine. And it is the most Italian story I know since it is about a family lunch.
But before sitting at the table, let me say one more thing.
The dictionary of the Italian language defines the term perfect as something immune from defects, errors, and shortcomings. I don't know about you. I have never encountered perfect things or people. And if it happened, they must have been boring since I forgot them.
But if you take the philosophical definition of the same word, new perspectives open up, and perfect means something complete since it contains all the necessary parts.
In this definition, perfect does not mean without flaws. On the contrary, it implies that even imperfections have contributed to making it so. In my case, a perfect day.
We can now move on.
The Christmas planet is a place unto itself. It is easy to get lost in nostalgia for a happy childhood, even though it may not have been one. But memories, you know, are the selection we choose to make. And so the past turns pink, and memories rise like the best bread dough, like a daydream.
My perfect day is a continuum between Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
It is a long time that goes by fast.
About that time, I remember the seasons dancing happily on the table.
The women of home valorized the ingredients preparing traditional foods whose knowledge had been passed on from woman to woman, one generation after another.
I smell the fragrance of the dishes, the penetrating pervasiveness of family affection, and the taste of being together. I can see the faces of those who raise their glasses, embracing the table and its inhabitants with eyes full of love.
My perfect day is Christmas lunch, which starts on Christmas Eve morning and ends with Christmas dinner.
December 24, early morning.
I enter a kitchen already crowded with busy women. The moist, fragrant heat from the stock pot creates a condensation that, like fog, could be cut with a knife, using an expression familiar to those who grew up in the Po Valley. The window is ajar with the hope of freshening the air without letting in the rigors of winter.
Christmas morning seems like a replica of the previous day.
Creating the curious déjà vu are always the same busy women and the stock pot, which rested all night before cleaning, still mumbling and fogging the glass of the window from its place.
My perfect day is full of people at every step. In the kitchen, as I just told you.
Even the table dressed for Christmas dinner announces a large gathering.
And when the doorbell starts to sing, and people come in, I feel like the room gets smaller so we can be closer together.
After lunch, we move in front of the fireplace. The adults to rest, and the little ones to open gifts. The late afternoon walk also allows no divisions, and the team leaves and returns in a compact formation.
The perfect day is almost at an end when having all declared that no one will be dining, we are all back at the table with a plate of tortellini in broth in front of us, ready to discover that a little roast because why not and the insalata russa (Russian sald) is finished? But yes, come on, you won't be afraid of a little slice of dessert. Adults greet the arrival of the basket of tangerines and nuts with a burst of laughter.
I don't understand why, but it's nice to close the memory of my perfect day with a laugh that gathers everyone.
Buon Natale, Monica
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