7 Sicilian Fish Dishes for Christmas Eve

The Feast of the Seven Fishes is a traditional Italian Christmas Eve dinner thought to have originated in Sicily and it is a wonderful traditional feast to share with friends and loved ones.

Christmas Eve is a vigil or fasting day and the abundance of seafood reflects the tradition of abstinence from red meat until the actual feast of Christmas Day itself. It is a meal that typically consists of seven different seafood dishes. In Sicily and Southern Italy it is known as La Vigilia (The Vigil) which commemorates the wait, the Vigilia di Natale, the midnight birth of the baby Jesus.

The long tradition of eating seafood on Christmas Eve dates from the Roman Catholic tradition of abstaining from eating meat during certain times of the year. As no meat or animal fat can be used on these days, observant Catholics would instead eat fish, typically fried in oil.

In Sicily, Christmas Eve dinner is much more important than Christmas Day festivities.

The most famous dish for Sicilians is baccala (salted cod fish). The custom of celebrating with a simple fish such as baccala reflects customs in what were historically greatly impoverish regions of the south of Italy.

Baccala is a cod fish that has been preserved by being packed in salt and drying. It is sold by the slab and it was a staple food for many people in the days before refrigeration, eventually finding its way into many different cuisines throughout the world, but particularly in the Mediterranean.

As for the feast of seven fishes there are many theories for what the number "seven" represents.

Seven is the most repeated number in the bible and appears over 700 times. One popular theory is the number represents completion, as shown in Geniesis 2:2 "By the seventh day God completed the work he had been doing, so on the seventh day he rested from all his work".

During the feast of the seven fishes, the diners celebrate the completion of God's promise of the Messiah through the birth of Jesus. Other theories include that the number represents the Sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church or  it represents the seven hills of Rome that surround the city.

So with fish in mind, it being Christmas time and there being such an abundant choice of seafood in Sicily, after a tough decision and in no particular order, here are seven of my favourite Sicilian fish dishes:

1) Spaghetti Vongole

 Spaghetti Vongole is an Italian classic. It's pretty much spaghetti with clams which are cooked in white wine, simply delicious.
Ristorante La Lanterna
Giardini Naxos

2) Sarde alla Beccafico

 This is a dish of butterflied sardines sandwiched with a breadcrumb, parsley, parmesan, raisin and pine nut stuffing. The plumped stuffed fish with their tails sticking out are said to resemble the beccafico, a little bird found in Italy that loves to eat figs.
Ristorante Pizzeria Royal
Giardini Naxos

3) Pesce Spada

 Swordfish is a firm, succulent and meaty fish whose texture can be compared to that of tuna. It is delicious served grilled or rolled with a mixed filling (Involtini di Pesce Spada).
Ristorante Pippo Lupo di Mare
Giardini Naxos

4) Fritto Misto di Mare

 Every culture does fried food, but Sicilians do it especially well. Whether you enjoy this dish in a restaurant or from a street food vendor, deep fried Sicilian seafood is a must.
Ristorante Duca di Cesaro
Taormina

5) Pasta con Le Sarde

 Nothing but nothing is more Sicilian than Pasta con le Sarde. Fennel and sardines combined with sweet and sour flavours imported by the Arabs.
Tasting Sicily Restaurant UK
Enzo's Kitchen London

6) Ricci di Mare

 Enjoyed with a squeeze of lemon straight from the sea in the market or stirred into spaghetti. A sure sign you are a foodie is if you can't get enough of the mind-blowing and totally unique flavour of sea urchins.
Catania Fish Market 

7) Pizza Sapore di Mare

 What more could you ask for? Delicious wood fired oven pizza topped with tomato sauce and a taste of the Sicilian sea including fresh mussels, octopus, squid and prawns.
Ristorante Pizzeria Royal
Giardini Naxos


All that is left now is for me to wish you all a very Merry Christmas
and say a BIG grazie to all my followers.

Buon appetito
and
Keep posted for NEW exciting and fun posts in 2018
__________________________________________________

Love fish?
Then why not book a Street Food Tour
in one of Sicily's colourful markets?

Ortigia Fish Market

Love cooking?
Then a Cooking Class is the perfect treat!

Cooking Classes at
Villa Britannia in Taormina

If you enjoyed this post?
Then you might enjoy this post from my Blog archive
"Catania ... La Pescheria"
http://whitealmond-privatesicily.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/catania-la-pescheria.html

Daisy choosing the Catch of the Day
at Catania's Fish Market 

and this Christmas why not watch 
“A Christmas Feast”
about an Italian/American family preparing for The Feast of the Seven Fishes on Christmas Eve


Thank you for following me at 
White Almond Sicily BlogSpot

 For NEW Blog updates and all things Sicilian 
Follow me on Facebook
www.facebook.com/whitealmondprivatesicily/

 You can also follow me on
Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Google + and LinkedIn


For Travel Tips, Trip Advice and Recommendations 


Love Sarah & Daisy x

Popular posts from this blog

Forza d'Agro

Image
In the Godfather Part I, when Michael Corleone (Al  Pacino) and his two bodyguards are walking in the hills, they see a picturesque village in the distance, they point and remark “Corleone”. The town in the distance is in fact Forza d' Agro a short drive from Taormina. Forza d’Agro is an ancient hill-top town and is a warren of narrow streets and tiny houses leading up to a ruined Norman castle. Most of the stone paved lanes here are impassable by cars. The town was also used as a filming location for The Godfather Part II and III. In the opening scene of The Godfather Part II, following the assassination of young Vito Corleone’s father, the funeral procession was shot in the dry riverbed below Forza d’Agro, Michael’s older brother is assassinated in this scene after being found hiding in the hills. Following this his mother is also brutally murdered, and so being the only surviving male, Vito Corleone must escape Sicily and with the help of local residents he c
Read more

The White Lotus Season 2 Locations 🎬

Image
With its beautiful natural scenery, breathtaking landscapes and architectural marvels Sicily has set the scene for many Hollywood movies including The Godfather, Oceans Twelve, Star Wars Revenge of the Sith, Aquaman and most recently the musical Cyrano and Indiana Jones 5 plus many Italian speaking movies including the Oscar winning movie Cinema Paradiso. Earlier this year news broke that the producers of the American TV series 'The White Lotus' would be setting their second season in Taormina, Sicily.  The White Lotus is a comedy-drama television series, created written and directed by Mike White, that premiered on the US HBO channel in July 2021. The first series was filmed in Hawaii in late 2020 and featured an ensemble cast including Hollywood actress and comedian Jennifer Coolidge. The series swept the 2022 Emmy Awards with trophies.  The first season consisted of six episodes and features the lives of the staff and guests at a fictional tropical luxury resort in Hawaii. T
Read more

25 Sicilian Myths and Legends

Image
Sicily is a place full of myths and legends and there are many stories associated with the island. From the stories of nymphs and gods from Greek and Roman mythology to tragic love stories from an exotic era when the island was under Arabic, Norman and Spanish rule. Some stories have happy endings and some not so happy endings.  What is a legend? Legends are stories which are thought to be based on true events but have developed fictional elements that have deep significance to the culture from which they originate. For example historians claim that King Arthur really existed but his existence is shrouded in different legends, such as is his final resting place on Mount Etna?  What is a myth? Myths are stories derived from cultural traditions or legends most of which have a deep symbolic meaning and usually involve a lesson that will be helpful to the listener or reader. Mythical characters are often non-human in some form or related to a god or supernatural being, often set in ancient
Read more