Posts Tagged ‘Christmas Eve’

Christmas Day at my grandparents’ house had an order. Antipasto galore followed by “Sauce” Supper. When that finally “ended,” the nuts and fanuk (fennel) were set in a basket, on my grandmother’s beautiful Christmas table. This was the official “break” period before dessert came out — a pause that still involved… eating. It gave the women time to disappear into the kitchen, clean up, and pull out the nice dishes for the grand finale, while the men lit cigars, broke out the cards, started gambling, and cracked the nuts with those silver […]

My favorite holiday has always been Christmas Eve, which Italians also call The Feast of the Seven Fishes. It’s been tricky to find out about the history, as it’s not celebrated in Italy. There’s no clear rationale for why it’s seven fishes*. The only thing we know for sure is that Christmas Eve is an official church holy day, so you’re not supposed to eat red meat. But the paisans beat the system, “No meat, no problemo! Let’s deep fry as many types of fish as we possibly can! Oh […]

I’ve finally gotten around to posting our Christmas Eve Baccalà ball recipe which some of you have expressed interest in. It’s a long process but tradition warrants this meal a must on Christmas Eve. A Sicilian tradition on the Feast of the Seven Fishes: “The most famous dish Southern Italians are known for is baccalà (salted cod fish). The custom of celebrating with a simple fish such as baccalà is attributed to the greatly impoverished regions of Southern Italy.” I was thinking though, why only make this once a year? It’s essentially a finger food, perfect for […]