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Ask the Italians: What is the meaning of the Feast of the Seven Fishes?
Meal Ticket decided to interview seven Philadelphians who have carefully considered the tradition themselves - they are either Italian, of Italian descent, fish eaters, fish vendors, or all of the above.
Ask the Italians: What is the meaning of the Feast of the Seven Fishes?
For many Italian-Americans in Philadelphia, Christmas Eve dinner has followed a tradition their ancestors arrived from Europe: The Feast of the Seven Fishes. In general, the practice reflects Church doctrine requiring abstinence before a holy day of observation, in the same way Catholics abstain from eating meat on Fridays during Lent. But no one really seems to know, for sure, where the custom, in particular the number seven, truly originates.
Meal Ticket decided to interview seven Philadelphians who have carefully considered the tradition themselves — they are either Italian, of Italian descent, fish eaters, fish vendors, or all of the above. Our conversations yielded a sea of perplexed expressions, diverse and interesting conclusions and a complimentary ball of Mancuso's fresh mozzarella. In the end, it appears that we might be wise to allow the true meaning of the Seevn Fishes to remain a mystery.
"Well, the origin and purpose of the fishes on Christmas Eve is religious and must always go back to the basic point that Christmas Eve was a day of abstinence, meaning that Catholics cannot eat meat. I grew up in Brooklyn and never heard the idea of the number seven until I moved to Pennsylvania. It seems to be indigenous to the Delaware Valley Italians. But, as I always like to say, Italians can take something that is meant to be a negative and turn it into something that is positive. They took something somber and gradually made that into a celebration.” —Charles Sangermano, Monsignor at Holy Saviour Parish, contributor to Sons of Italy Times
"When my grandmother's parents came over from Italy, we were told they brought that tradition with them. There are some things that we always have, like shrimp cocktail, stuffed calamari, spaghetti and clams, fried flounder or another white fried fish, and always zeppoli, fried dough, for dessert. It's just something we’ve always done. My grandmom makes the rule very clear: You have to have all seven fish, and 11 items total. Bread could be the eighth, and salad, et cetera, but you had to eat all seven fish.” —Adam Erace, South Philly born and bred City Paper food critic and Meal Ticket contributor
It's traditional to eat fish of the best kinds on Christmas Eve. And families sometimes show off on who spends the most money on fish shopping. We can eat four, five or or even 10 kinds of fish, but we don't keep track of them. This 'seven' fishes thing, though, is something I learned here. It is a commercialized Italian-American thing, but not Italian." —Salvatore Iovino, native of Naples, nephew of Girasole Ristorante owner Gino Iovino
"We don't practice this tradition in my house. On Christmas Eve we eat a little bit of everything, from meat to fish, but Sardinian cooking uses meat more often in antipasti than fish anyway. Here, I'll give you an example of the menu at my house on Christmas Eve: various antipasti of eggplant, pepperoni, cheese, octopus salad, mussels, salami, then two first courses consisting of either a pasta with fish or one with meat, a second course of either veal or lamb. Then we have sweets and naturally, much wine throughout the meal. I have heard that some parts of Italy have a more rigid fish tradition, but in my house, we have never done it." —Andrea Murenu, native Sardinian
"Well, I have always just heard that it's what Italians do on Christmas Eve and that it's a traditional Italian thing. My grandfather did it all the time and the fish we have always changes. Shrimp, flounder and scallops are a must." —Michael Burghese, employee at the Italian Market Di Bruno Bros.
"The tradition of the seven fishes, where'd it come from? I don’t know. Nowadays, you have all of these third generation Italian-Americans that are simply following tradition but don't know why. Personally, we don't sell the fishes and I don't eat the fishes for Christmas Eve and I wouldn't care if I had no Christmas Eve meal at all, but I'm Scrooge. Remember, it's not Christmas without a Scrooge." —Philip "Scrooge" Mancuso, owner of Mancuso & Son by day, opera singer by night
"We cater Christmas Eve dinners for over 300 families in Philadelphia, and no, there are no specific seven [fish]. Eel, baccala [and] some variation of octopus are staples to the meal, but everyone has their own philosophy and traditions. Some choose their fish based on the myths associated with certain fish: eel is an aphrodisiac, octopus mate for life, and so on. Overall, though, each family believes that keeping these traditions alive will bring luck to their families, and of course it does. When everyone's together enjoying one another’s company, of course the tradition brings good luck." —Janet Anastasi, co-owner of Anastasi Seafood
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