What Are The Seven Fishes Eaten On Christmas Eve

Of course we ve had years when we had 6 and years when we ve had 9.

Feast of the seven fishes on christmas eve also known as the vigil the feast of the seven fishes is a southern italian custom in which a meal of at least seven different kinds of seafood is served before midnight on christmas eve. The tradition is one of abstinence. A tradition with roots in southern italy the feast of the seven fishes didn t emerge as a major christmas eve tradition in the united states until the early 1900s according to eataly. This menu features a hearty seafood stew garlic shrimp.

The origins of this traditional christmas eve meal. The ancient tradition of eating fish on christmas eve dates from the roman catholic custom of abstinence from meat and dairy products on the eve of certain holidays including christmas. 1 7 slides eatingwell 5872969 jpg feast of the seven fishes is the italian american name for a multicourse seafood feast on christmas eve. Some of the most traditional dishes include stuffed clams cold seafood salads shrimp scampi stuffed calamari fritto misto fried seafood and vegetables mussels marinara baccalà salt cod and many more.

In italy the meal is known as festa dei sette pesci or more simply la vigilia. Here some traditional and not so traditional ideas for your own feast. For many families who celebrate the feast of the seven fishes the menu is the same every year but the names and types of dishes can easily vary from family to family. The feast of seven fishes an italian tradition is celebrated on christmas eve each year.

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There aren t seven specific fishes to be eaten on christmas eve but rather that you should have a total of seven different fishes. In fact the seven seems repeated more than 700 times in the bible. Catholics historically refrained from eating meat on the night before the christmas holiday so this was a way for italians to still honor the occasion without breaking their vows. The number seven is rooted back in ancient times and it can be connected to multiple catholic symbols.

The italian american tradition of eating seven fishes on christmas eve is lovingly preserved by area chefs including zeppoli owner joey baldino subscribe now 3 for 3 months.