The Feast of the Seven Fishes (festa dei sette pesci),is celebrated on Christmas Eve, also known as The Vigil (La Vigilia), is believed to have originated in Southern Italy and is not a known tradition in many parts of Italy. Today, it is a feast that typically consists of seven different seafood dishes. However, some Italian American families have been known to celebrate with 9, 11, or 13 different seafood dishes. This celebration commemorates the wait, Vigilia di Natale, for the midnight birth of the baby Jesus. The long tradition of eating seafood on Christmas Eve dates from the Roman Catholic tradition of abstinence—in this case, refraining from the consumption of meat or milk products—on Fridays and specific holy days. As no meat or butter could be used on such days, observant Catholics would instead eat fish, typically fried in oil.The "Feast of the Seven Fishes", a celebration of Christmas Eve with meals of fish and seafood, but there may be seven, eight, or even nine specific fishes that are considered traditional. The most famous dish Southern Italians are known for is baccalà (salted cod fish). The reasons for celebrating with such a simple fish as baccalà is attributed to the greatly impoverished regions of Southern Italy. Fried smelts, calamari, and other types of seafood have been incorporated into the Christmas Eve dinner over the years.
A few wonderful links for additional information & recipes are:
Here are some of the area Restaurants that have served this wonderful Feast in years past. Please contact them directly to see if they will continue the tradition this year:
New Jersey
Andreotti's Viennese Café
1442 Route 70 East, Cherry Hill, 856-795-0172; andreottis.com
Bácio Italian Cuisine
2806 Route 130 North, Cinnaminson, 856-303-9100; baciorestaurant.com
Barone's Tuscan Grill
210 Barclay Shopping Center, Route 70 East, Cherry Hill, 856-354-1888; baronerestaurants.com
Luna Rossa Biagio Lamberti
3210 Route 42, Turnersville, 856-728-4505; lambertis.com
Scaturro's Restaurant and Bar
841 Route 73 South, Marlton, 856-985-4560; scaturros.com
Thommy G's
20 West Atlantic Avenue, Audubon, 856-672-1222; thommyg.com
Pennsylvania
Mamma Maria
1637 East Passyunk Avenue, 215-463-6884; mammamaria.info
Mediterraneo
303 Horsham Road, Horsham, 215-672-5595; mediterraneoristorante.net
Paradiso
1627 East Passyunk Avenue, 215-271-2066; paradisophilly.com
Piccolo Trattoria
32 West Road, Newtown, 215-860-4247; piccolotrattoria.com
Positano
21 West Lancaster Avenue, Ardmore; 610-896-8298
Ralph's
760 South 9th Street, 215-627-6011; ralphsrestaurant.com
Scannicchio's
2500 South Broad Street, 215-468-3900; scannicchio.com
Trattoria Alberto
116 East Gay Street, West Chester, 610-430-0203; trattorialberto.com
Trattoria Prima Donna
1506 Spruce Street; 215-790-0171
Drexelbrook Events would be happy to cater a Seven Fish Feast for you or design a custom menu for any occasion. Contact us at http://www.drexelbrookevents.com/
Credits: Wikipedia, Phillymag.com, Yahoo.com, Associatedcontent.com, Google Images
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