Feast of 7 Fishes Roundup

Friday, December 24, 2010
The Feast of the Seven Fishes is eating fish that night for their Christmas Eve celebration dinner.

Christmas Eve is a fasting day and the customs and respect given it to abstain from eating any meat that day until Christmas Day.

This Italian Christmas Eve Tradition has always been practiced by our family here in America.

Seafood is part of Catholic abstinence from eating meat until the feast of Christmas Day.

This celebration was to wait and welcome the Vigilia di Natale, and the birth of baby Jesus.

When the clock strikes 12:00 am everyone gathers in our family for Midnight mass and prayer for our baby Jesus as it has been written that was the time of his birth.

Although the tradition is 7 Fishes, we usually have more than 7 with the medleys we serve in the meals along with the Insalata Caprese and Italian Struffoli dessert.

Below are the links to the recipes highlighted by name.

a roundup of Christmas Eve Traditional Seafood recipes





this is a pot of seafood scampi


Seafood Scampi Pasta



this is a big pot of seafood in tomato sauce called cioppino


Cioppino Fish Stew



this is baked cod fish on a white plate with a bed of spinach


Baked Cod with Roasted Vegetables



this is baked haddock with a zucchini shrimp medley on top


Baked Haddock with Shrimp Zucchini Salsa



Italian escargot made in butter and wine sauce


Butter Crumb Escargot



this is shrimp stuffed flounder


Stuffed Flounder with Shrimp



fried calamari with tomato sauce on the side


Fried Calamari



stuffed octopus in a tomato sauce


Stuffed Calamari



Codfish on top of spaghetti


Baccala



fish fries recipes


Fish Fry



smelts recipe


Smelts

tempura shrimp


Best Tempura Batter for Shellfish



this is a huge bowl of white chowder with crab legs and assorted shellfish


White or Red Italian Chowder



this is a medley of mussels and other seafood on top of pasta


Seafood Medley



Pin for later



Other Holiday Recipes to Try


Easter Recipes

Game Day Recipes

Best Holiday Side Dishes

Red White and Blue Recipes

Halloween Roundup

Thanksgiving Recipes

Christmas Recipes



31 comments

  1. What a feast! Merry Christmas Claudia, may your time with family be the best ever!

    ReplyDelete
  2. LOL Two fat cats I love them...two of mine are also round and thick. ;-))
    Merry Christmas!
    Angie

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm coming over! Happy holidays!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Buon Natale (Merry Christmas)!! I wrote the same thing on my recent Christmas post how fast time flies lol. I can't believe it's Christmas already.

    ReplyDelete
  5. WOW!!!!! What a great meal for Christmas Eve and you do it with great style! Love your cats dressed up and wish ours would settle for that. Here's wishing you and yours a great Merry Christmas and the best in the New Year, Claudia!

    ReplyDelete
  6. A true feast! Merry Christmas to you and yours and give a nuzzle to your Chirstmas cats!

    ReplyDelete
  7. A lot of nice looking food. It is only two of us so we just do finger foods, simple but probably highly unhealthy food for our holidays once the big annual party is over.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Ahh! The seven "fish"...what a feast! Everything is so beautiful, and festive. My two kitties wish yours too, a Merry Christmas!

    We are invited tonight to a Sicilian, and a real all American Southern feast, at our dear friends' house.

    Claudia-I am so happy that I met you thru foodbuzz, can't thank you enough for your friendship and support, these last few months!
    Wishing you and your loved ones, a Very Merry Christmas-Buon Natale!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Yeah, you're so right! Time just flies. Another year to come! Wishing you & your family a very Merry Christmas. Hope you're having a marvellous time and enjoy the night.
    May god bless you all.
    Best wishes, Kristy ((hugs))

    ReplyDelete
  10. Merry Christmas to you, too, Claudia! What a lovely feast!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Buon Natale Claudia!! I love your cats!!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Merry Christmas to you and yours Claudia! xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  13. That meal looks like quite the undertaking but well worth it! You cats look too cute all dressed up for christmas! Have a merry christmas!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Claudia, I'm with Belinda - have an extra chair at that table! ;) I wish you a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Claudia,
    A wonderful Christmas feast!

    You and your family have a Very Merry Christmas!

    Bon appetit!
    CCR
    =:~)

    ReplyDelete
  16. everything looks so great

    May you and your loved ones be blessed with the essence of Christmas — Love, peace, joy and hope — all your lives through. Have a most wonderful Christmas

    Merry Christmas

    ReplyDelete
  17. Happiest holidays from my kitchen to yours, Claudia! Each of your seven fishes is a masterpiece, as usual!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Merry Christmas Claudia with Joy and Happiness!! Am I invited to this wonderful menu?

    Cheers,

    Gera

    ReplyDelete
  19. Claudia
    What an incredible feast for Christmas dinner!!
    Buon Natale!
    Dennis

    ReplyDelete
  20. Un menu' ricco e goloso. Buon Natale e felice 2011 a te e a tutta la tua famiglia. Un abbraccio Daniela.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Claudia, everything looks fantastic as always.Buon Natale!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Your incredibly put together holiday feast...good company and such cute kitties...how well surrounded you are Claudia.

    I'll be coming back later to check out some of your great posts later...I just wanted to pass by and wish you great holiday times and all the best in the New Year ;o)

    Buon Natale and flavourful wishes,
    Claudia

    ReplyDelete
  23. haha, very cute cats. enjoy your feast! Merry Christmas!

    ReplyDelete
  24. What a beautiful and traditional Christmas! Love the kitties! Merry Christmas

    ReplyDelete
  25. Wow, what a feast! Merry Christmas to you and your family!

    Your kitties are so adorable!

    ReplyDelete
  26. hey claudia marry christmas and happy new year to u and your family really nice menu!

    ReplyDelete
  27. wow really great menu merry christmas to u and your family.........

    ReplyDelete
  28. So, officially, the secret reason I wish I was Italian is the Seven Fishes Christmas Eve dinner that all Italians get to enjoy, and all Armenians (namely me) feel bad about, lol. Maybe I should marry an Italian :)

    ReplyDelete
  29. Claudia, I am truly pea green with envy that you have practiced and enjoyed the Italian tradition of the Feast of the Seven Fishes! My family is from the Northern mountains and there may have been a river fish here or there, but nothing else! So when I asked my mother why we never celebrated this feast, she explained the geographic reason and their mountain poverty in Northern Italy. I am sure that it is and was perfectly wonderful! I hope your Christmas was beautiful and that you have a blessed New Year! Amore, Roz

    ReplyDelete
  30. Hi Claudia,

    I love this page! I finally got around to adding my families menu for The Seven Fishes to my site. You can check it here:

    http://www.spaghettisauceandmeatballs.com/feast_of_the_seven_fishes.html

    I will be working on nailing down these recipe hopefully this Christmas!

    Peace and Joy! ~ Anthony

    ReplyDelete

Remember to use the search option for a recipe you're looking for and thanks for all your kind words and support. We love our readers all the best Claudia