The Feast of the Seven Fishes must be one of the most recognizable ways that Italian Americans in New Jersey celebrate Christmas. Yet this longstanding Christmas Eve tradition continually stokes debate and questions: Is it a real holiday? Is it just for Italian Americans? Where did it originate?
I am proudly Italian American. My mother’s side of the family hails from southern parts of Italy, including Naples, Calabria and Sicily. When my great-great-grandparents made their way to America, they landed in and around Camden, and passed down their family traditions and time-honored Italian recipes.
The Feast of the Seven Fishes is the most important holiday tradition in my family. It’s a big, elaborate Christmas Eve dinner where family members (both blood and honorary) gather together to eat far too much fish and seafood. The women in the family spend hours in the kitchen, working hard to craft at least seven different seafood and pasta dishes, plus a selection of appetizers, sides and desserts.
While the kitchen smells heavenly, it’s always covered in splatters of homemade red sauce (aka gravy), pots and pans piled high, exhaust fans humming on full speed and, every now and then, shouts coming from the sweet yet tough and focused matriarchs.
This typical scene may sound familiar if you’ve been watching the hit Hulu TV series The Bear, or heard about its iconic and Emmy Award-winning episode “Fishes,” in which renowned chef Carmy Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White) spends Christmas Eve with his Italian American family during an absolutely chaotic Feast of the Seven Fishes. There are gorgeous shots of expertly prepared table settings, seafood platters, antipasti, wine and desserts, juxtaposed with the family’s night of intense fighting.
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Most family celebrations do not entail cousins throwing forks at each other, yet the episode does reflect some common themes of this holiday. However, the show doesn’t reveal what the feast actually signifies, and that could be because there isn’t one clear-cut answer. But here’s what we do know.
The Feast of the Seven Fishes, also known as La Vigilia, which means “the eve,” is an Italian American celebration that has connections to Italy’s southern region. Most of Southern Italy is located along or near the coast, giving its inhabitants easy access to an abundance of fish and seafood, which is why so many of their dishes are seafood-based.
When these Italians began immigrating to the United States, mostly in the early 20th century, they brought their families and recipes with them, like many immigrants of other cultures did. They eventually adopted new traditions to celebrate with their loved ones in their new home.
Mark Rotella, director of the Coccia Institute for the Italian Experience in America at Montclair State University, is the author of two books, one a travel memoir about Calabria (where his father’s ancestors are from) and the other about Italian American music. He says the feast is a way for Italian families to come together.
“There are some places in Italy that might celebrate the Seven Fishes, but if you were to ask most people in Italy, they would say, ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about,’” he says.
So, while this tradition has been Americanized, it does in fact stem from the people of Italy and their recipes.
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Many southern Italian Americans cook fish and seafood during Christmas for religious reasons. Rotella says the feast is rooted in Roman Catholicism, a religion that abstains from meat on Fridays and on the eves of major holidays or celebrations. Similar to practices like Lent, the time leading up to Easter Sunday, when many Catholics refrain from eating meat, seafood became a typical meal on these days.
Many of these fish and seafood dishes have become classics of this traditional feast. Some of the most common you’ll see are variations of crispy fried smelts, baccalà (dried and salted cod), roasted whole branzino, shrimp cocktail, clams and linguine, fried calamari, mussels, crab dip, whole lobsters, and seafood salad with a ton of fish, including anchovies, scallops and cod.
Some families use recipes that have been passed down through the generations. In my family, my aunt hosts and prepares the feast each year. She follows many of her grandmother’s recipes, such as her famous crabs and spaghetti. Fresh bushels of small crabs simmer inside homemade red sauce; the crab flavor melts into the sauce that is later poured over fresh spaghetti. Those who don’t mind the mess pry open the saucy crabs to eat their tender meat.
Over the years, my family has opted to center our feast around what matters most to us—these sentimental dishes and the things we enjoy most, like king crab legs and stuffed shrimp—rather than adhering to the “right” way to do the feast. This is often a controversial topic among Italian Americans. Some believe the feast should include traditional fish and seafood, such as smelts, baccalà, branzino and shrimp, cooked conventionally, while others incorporate alternative recipes or use completely different ones.
Is it important to have seven types of fish during the feast? While The Bear’s Seven Fishes episode makes it seem as though having more than seven is considered unlucky, that’s not always the case.
“I’ve also heard of people doing 12 fishes for the 12 apostles [of Jesus],” Rotella says. It’s common for some people to connect their dishes to numbers with religious symbolism. While seven is tied to the traditional name of the feast and is a number loaded with biblical significance, Rotella says he’s “never heard of [having more than seven] being a bad omen.”
The Feast of the Seven Fishes is a time for families to pass down and create their own unique traditions. While the food does matter, it’s not nearly as important as the loved ones you are eating it with.
If you’re interested in trying the Feast of the Seven Fishes yourself without the hassle of cooking, several Italian restaurants across the state serve their own version of the feast throughout December or on Christmas Eve. Here are just a few spots to check out: Spuntino Wine Bar + Italian Tapas in Clifton (70 Kingsland Road; 973-661-2435), Catherine Lombardi in New Brunswick (3 Livingston Avenue; 732-296-9463) and Andrea Trattoria Italiana in Cape May (412 Bank Street; 609-884-0366).
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