Merry Christmas!
For many in The States, tradition is to observe Christmas Eve with “The Feast of the Seven Fishes,” however, this is not Italian or Sicilian at all, it is an Italian-American tradition! When I asked my cousin Evelina in Bagheria, Sicily about the Seven Fishes, she didn’t know what I was talking about. Then I asked my friend Vittorio from Caserta, outside of Napoli, thinking maybe it was a Neapolitan tradition. He had never heard of this Christmas Eve practice either. Evelina explained that for “La Vigilia,” or Christmas Eve, their tradition is to have a dinner of sfincione (see previous post), fried cardoon (the thistle of the artichoke plant, fried in a light batter), and perhaps some pasta, but not a large, rich meal. They reserve that for Christmas day. Meanwhile, if you do celebrate with the Feast of the Seven Fishes, I hope your food shopping was as much fun as my visit in Il Capo with the fish mongers!
Buon Natale!
(Photo: Due Still Wedding Photography)
