Many years ago, our family adopted the tradition of the Feast of the Seven Fishes for our Christmas celebration. It’s certainly changed over the years, but it’s still a fun family tradition we love to do. If you’re wondering what dish to make for Christmas Eve dinner, give this a try!
And yes… there really are seven kinds of seafood!
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A way to keep the tradition alive
I want to transmit the best of our family culture, our traditions and our heritage. On the Italian side, this often means passing on food and recipes.
Trying to live a healthy lifestyle isn’t about throwing food-centered traditions out the window. Far from there! Instead, I modified meatball recipes, pasta recipes, and even Christmas cookie recipes adapted to our allergies and dietary needs.
It was easy and fun to carry on a particular Italian-American tradition with our family. It is called “The Feast of the Seven Fishes” in the United States, but simply “La Vigilia” (the vigil) in southern Italy. As the name suggests, this tradition literally involves preparing seven (or more) types of fish on Christmas Eve.
Feast of the Seven Fishes: That’s what’s for Christmas Eve dinner!
There is much debate as to the historical origin of this tradition, although we continue it simply because of its connection to family. Eating fish on Christmas Eve dates back to the Roman Catholic tradition of abstaining from meat on Fridays and certain holy days. Abstaining from meat on Christmas Eve would have meant awaiting the arrival of the Baby Jesus on Christmas morning.
In the 19th and 20th centuries, many immigrants from southern Italy came to America (especially New York). They brought with them the tradition of serving fish dishes on Christmas Eve. Many Italian-American families still continue this holiday tradition.
The number seven is also up for debate, as many families serve fewer types of fish (and some serve as many as 13!). Seven is probably the most common number due to its strong historical and cultural significance in many parts of Europe, including Italy. In the biblical story, the number seven represents completeness and perfection. There are also seven sacraments and seven deadly sins in Catholic teachings.
Does it have to be fish?
Some people really stick to seven types of fish at their seafood feast. Others (like me) simply aim for seven different types of seafood.
NOTE: You don’t have to prepare all the dishes at once to try this tradition! I definitely didn’t start doing all seven at first. Choose one or two and you have a festive, meaningful and delicious Christmas Eve meal.
The family version of “La Vigilia”
It took me almost a decade to finally get into a good routine for that special Christmas Eve meal. As you can imagine, this can take a lot of prep and cooking work! I added one dish each year until I reached seven.
Now, to make things even easier, I make a seafood stew that contains most (or all) of the seven fish. There are many different options, but here are our favorite dishes and ones I’ve often made for Christmas Eve dinner.
Seafood dishes as an aperitif
Cooking so many dishes can easily become overwhelming and involve too much food. Small appetizers are a great way to honor this Italian-American Christmas Eve tradition without going overboard. Any of these dishes can be served as an appetizer or as part of the main meal.
Crab and Clam Arancini
Arancini is a traditional Italian cuisine, but I added two types of seafood to make it fit this meal. The name means “little orange” and they are small fried rice balls that resemble an orange when cooked. They’re traditionally filled with mozzarella cheese and meat, but I use seafood, herbs, and peppers for a flavorful alternative.
Mussels in wine sauce
A dish that seems really refined but couldn’t be simpler to make. As this meal has many dishes, we only prepare 2-3 per person. Children think they are fun and enjoy helping to make them happen. I use this recipe and mix up the herbs and spices a little each year.
Scallops with Hazelnut Butter
I love scallops and they are a perfect part of a holiday meal. Our favorite way to prepare them is with a little browned butter, olive oil and fresh herbs. Since there are so many other dishes at this meal, we only prepare one per person. My recipe is very similar to this one (I just leave out the capers).
Shrimp cocktail
This simple appetizer couldn’t be easier to prepare. Boiled and then cooled shrimp are dipped in a spicy tomato-based sauce. If you don’t have a ready-made healthy cocktail sauce, try this one homemade. Primal Kitchen has a unsweetened ketchup it would work well in this recipe.
Skillet Bang Bang Shrimp with Sriracha Dip
All the flavors of the famous bang-bang shrimp without the frying! I sauté the shrimp in butter until cooked and serve with a sweet pepper and sriracha sauce.
Canned fish
Canned sardines are another easy (and healthy) appetizer to make for this meal. You can crush them in the can and serve them on crackers with a slice of cheese. Canned fish really cuts down on the prep time for this dinner. Here are some other ideas on how to eat sardines.
Main dishes
Pasta dishes often accompany this seafood spread, but it’s not something we usually do.
If you want to cook pasta for your meal, here are some options. Sometimes we use gluten-free rice noodles for pasta, or I often make vegetarian noodles. Add homemade marinara sauce and you are in business! If you’re feeling spicy, try some fra diavolo sauce instead.
Baccalà – Salted cod with butter and wine reduction
Baccalà is a traditional main dish of the Feast of the Seven Fishes. Traditionally it is prepared with real Baccalà cod, preserved in salt and dried. Before moving south, it was hard to find, so I got creative.
I made my own version using fresh cod and salt in a butter and wine sauce. here is a classic Baccalà recipe if you want to create your own.
Soups, salads and side dishes
Since the meal is more complex, we keep the sides very simple that evening. I often just do a fresh salad and roast broccoli. You could even make a seafood salad with this tasty Cesar salad. The vinaigrette is made with salted anchovies and I like to top it with some sardines.
Bisque shrimp
A family favorite recreated from a soup we ate at a restaurant. This simple shrimp bisque is really easy to make and has amazing flavor. Making this one at Christmas always reminds me how good it is and to put it back in the family meal rotation.
Seafood stew
Over the years, our Christmas Eve routine has changed a lot. Although I still make some of these recipes for dinner, I’ve simplified the process with this soup. Traditionally known as cioppino, seafood stew offers hearty fish fillets like halibut and shellfish. It’s an easy way to pack most (or all) of the 7 types of seafood into one main dish.
You can also do something like this hearty seafood chowder. I would, however, use arrowroot powder instead of all-purpose flour.
Feast of the Seven Fishes Presentation Tips
If you don’t rely on thick seafood soup, you can prepare several meals at the same time. Fortunately, it’s pretty easy to do most of these tasks in advance. I usually prepare everything except the scallops in advance. I gently reheat the dishes, brown the scallops, mix the salad and off we go!
Another way to make the meal more festive is to have special wines on hand. Since I discovered Dry Farm Wines, I also make sure to have some of their white wine to serve for the perfect pairing. Children receive sparkling fruit infused water in fancy glasses!
For dessert, I usually serve some fresh fruit with a little whipped cream on top. If you want to get started on dessert, here are a few. delicious dessert recipes to try.
Do you have any special traditions for Christmas Eve or Christmas dinner?
