by Ron James

Created on: December 18, 2010

Ah, the traditional Christmas dinner – salt cod, squid, eel, clams with pasta.

What, you were expecting ham, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and Jell-O salad? Not at a traditional Italian-American table where the Feast of the Seven Fishes crowns the holiday.

Why have fish for Christmas? Two reasons: religion and economics.

In accordance with medieval Roman Catholic tradition, meat was not to be consumed on Fridays and specific holy days, including during Advent, the four weeks leading up to Christmas. Generations of Italians grew up observing these restrictions, eating fish instead of meat.

Italians have never been huge meat eaters to begin with. Pork and chicken have always been around, with beef making some dietary inroads in the last century, but seafood has long been the staple of Italian cuisine. Something about being a peninsula surrounded by water, I suppose. This was especially true in the impoverished southern regions of Italy, which is where Festa dei Sette Pesci, also known as La Vigilia, is thought to have started.

Originally, it was a part of the Vigilia di Natale, the watch kept in anticipation of the midnight birth of the Christ child. Although not as widely observed in Italy as it once was, the tradition emigrated to the United States and is now commonly celebrated in Italian-American homes. Of course, what was once a simple meal for the poor in Italy can come at quite a price on contemporary American tables.

Because it is part of La Vigilia, and therefore still under the fasting restrictions imposed by Advent, the Feast of the Seven Fishes actually takes place on Christmas Eve rather than on Christmas Day. (Advent ends at midnight on Christmas Eve.) And there are numerous variations. As the name would imply, the feast usually consists of seven different fish and seafood dishes. Some traditions hold that the number “seven” is relative to the number of sacraments in the Catholic Church. Others believe that seven represents the perfect number: the Holy Trinity plus the four compass points of the Earth combine to represent God on Earth in the form of Jesus Christ. Still more theories abound: Creation took seven days; Mary and Joseph's trip to Bethlehem lasted seven days; the Seven Hills of Rome. Take your pick.

However, among some Italian-American families the feast more often than not expands to include anywhere between eight and thirteen dishes. Some families serve ten dishes in reference to the ten Stations of the Cross.

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