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SUPPER: The Feast of the Seven Fishes
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SUPPER: The Feast of the Seven Fishes
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| Bacalao, Baccala,Bachalhau = Dried Salt Cod |
| MelissaCooksGourmet Blog |
Ippolito's Seafood, at 13th and Dickinson in South Philly, not only has fresh whole fish, fillets, shellfish and prepared seafood dishes — it also has a firm hold on the Italian cooking ways of the past.
The Feast of the Seven Fishes is a Southern Italian Christmas Eve tradition, also called La Vigilia (Italian: "the vigil," or waiting for the midnight birth of Jesus). Eating seafood on Christmas Eve corresponds with the Catholic abstinence from meat or dairy products on Fridays and holy days. Many Catholic Italians ate fish fried in oil on these days. The number seven is considered a divine number in the New Testament of the Bible; there are seven Roman Catholic sacraments. Whatever the reasoning, the Seven Fishes is always a variety of dishes that are very humble in origin. They are meant to be things that an ordinary person could afford to make for their family.
Ippolito's Seafood Web site has super-traditonal, Jesus-centered description of the typical Seven Fishes dishes:
Italian families throughout the world enjoy The Feast of The Seven Fishes, on Christmas Eve. Each dish is intended to celebrate the impending birth of Christ.
The feast begins with the shellfish because, in olden days, crustaceans were the food of the very poor and Christ's life spoke to the importance of even the lowest of God's creatures. Clams and mussels in white or red sauce served over pasta is a must, as is shrimp and scallops.
Next comes baccala (salt cured cod) in an aromatics stew. Cod, until most recently, was the most common fish and a main stay of the poor.
Then there is squid or "calamari" as it is known in the "cucina" (kitchen). Sliced into rings, dipped in egg and flour, then deep-fried. The squid's many swirling tentacles represent the many different directions that Christ's teachings went throughout the world.
Eel is served lightly dusted with flour and fried or roasted. The fast moving citizen of the sea symbolizes the speed with which the Word of Christ spread.
Then come the tiny whole Smelts dipped in flour and deep fried. They signify that the smallest and most humble of fish are pleasing God. Served with lemon, they are most pleasing to people.
Rounding off the feast is a good soft white-fleshed fish such as poached whiting. Whiting has always been abundant and easily available to people.
Several area chefs are preparing Seven Fishes-type feasts to go, like chef Patrick Feury's Villanova restaurant, Maia. His nouveau menu includes shrimp cocktail, Maryland jumbo crab cakes, calamari salad with niçoise olives and lobster pot pie, among other dishes. A complete Seven Fishes feast to take home is $75 per person, with a minimum order of four people. Visit tastemaia.com or call 610-527-4888 to order.
Whether simple or fancy, the Seven Fishes is meant as a celebration, a time for the family to join together and break bread. Kyle Phillips on About.com has collected some interesting salt cod recipes that would work perfectly as a traditional Seven Fishes menu items. Buy the salted fish today and start soaking in cold water in order to be eating the stuff on Christmas Eve. It's not necessary to soak a whole salted cod in the bathtub for three days, like my legendary great-grandmother. Merry eating!
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