The Origins Of The Italian Christmas Eve Celebration, Feast Of The Seven Fishes

The Feast of the Seven Fishes is an Italian American tradition as steeped in lore as it is in the saline taste of the sea. And, in classically literal Italian fashion (see also: tomato sauce; meatballs), it is also exactly what it sounds like. But, while the reasons your family partakes might differ from the reasons our family celebrates, or even the chaotic way it's depicted on TV series "The Bear," which showcases the stresses of opening and operating a restaurant (and a family-run one at that), there are a few commonly accepted beliefs about its origins.

While formal Catholic feast days honor important figures in the faith — St. Patrick's Day, for example, among the most famous, and now most debaucherous — the Feast of the Seven Fishes is not exactly exalting the sundry seafood selections on offer, highly prized as they are. It's not even an official feast day at all, although it is tied to the religion. The Catholic Church's canon law disallows meat consumption on Fridays in recognition of Christ's sacrifice on the cross. In what was perhaps the original "is a hotdog a sandwich" debate, fish became a common week-ending swap for meat. (This is also one reason why Lenten fish frys are still so popular.) 

While, for a time, this ban extended to Christmas Eve, that changed in the 1960s. But still, take Catholicism's heavy presence in Italy, combine it with the influx of Italian immigrants arriving in the United States decades earlier, and you have the perfect recipe for a first-generation holiday practice that reverberates throughout the years to come.

Every home that celebrates with a smattering of seafood will have its own unique interpretation of the Feast of the Seven Fishes. Baccalà appears on many tables, and smelt is particularly divisive on ours. The varieties, and even the number of fish (said, among other possibilities, to reference matters as serious as the seven deadly sins or sacraments), are pretty forgiving. You can also play fast and loose with the fish variety to dish ratio, incorporating, say, a seafood trio into something like pasta to hit that target if you wish. It is a holiday, after all.

Nostalgic as it is, the Feast of the Seven Fishes is also beautifully suited to the social media, everything-is-charcuterie, phone-eats-first present day. Imagine a few lovely tins of Fishwife salmon, mackerel, and rainbow trout arranged among your appetizers. You can even go super-luxe with caviar tins and lobster tails. A seafood tower would also make for an excellent display. Or you can always play it safe on the simpler side. You wouldn't want your lustful pride and sloth-like gluttony to invite any greedy envy, or, worse, wrath.