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


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Love Sarah & Daisy x

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