There was a four letter F-word that was never spoken in my house growing up. My Dad had long ago determined this was not a home where that word was a part of our daily vocabulary and especially not part of our daily meals. Fish was not something my Dad cared for and as a result growing up we rarely ate it.
When I started working at our family cooking school, I noticed my Mom consistently had a sellout class around the holiday season. The class, entitled Italian Christmas Eve, consisted of seven fish dishes. I was intrigued. We were Italian, we celebrated the Christmas Eve Vigil, we refrained from meat, and yet we never had fish, let alone seven in one meal. I decided to learn what this tradition was all about.
For practicing Roman Catholic Italians, Christmas Eve is as important a holiday as Christmas. Our family would bundle up in our Christmas outfits (matching velvet dresses, white stockings, and patent leather mary janes for me and my sisters until junior high) and pile in the car for midnight mass at Holy Rosary Church in Little Italy. Father Minigatto and then, in later years, Father Rocco would give the homily partly in Italian and partly in English, and we children would struggle to stay awake until the great singing of “Tu Scendi dalle Stelle” at the end of the mass (an awesome Italian Christmas song). Then we would listen to American Christmas songs on the radio as we drove snowy Mayfield Road home to Geauga County.
Our Christmas Eve feast with family and friends consisted of multiple meatless appetizers in honor of the “fasting” during the Eve Vigil. Snacking on lots of appetizers was somehow not eating a meal and so deemed okay.
In other Italian American families, the fasting takes the form of enjoying fish dishes. This tradition, born in Southern Italy, grew in great popularity here in the States and has become the Feast of the Seven Fishes in many homes.
As Italy is a peninsula, and fish a staple of many Italian diets, especially south of Rome, those honoring the meatless Vigil would create a meal around the readily available and often more economical fish. Eel, baccala (salted cod), and squid were the reigning top three on the menu in the form of cold seafood salads or simply breaded and fried in olive oil.
Depending on each family’s location, availability of fish varieties, and traditions, the menu can vary. Although most celebrate seven dishes in honor of the Seven Sacraments, some go all out with 11 or 13 fish dishes for the meal.
This year, it is my turn to host our family’s Christmas Eve meal before Mass. I think I may try some of Mom’s recipes for the Seven Fishes in my buffet spread. And as for Dad, like he says: “my home, my rules,” so I’ll cut him up some veggies and cheese.
Buon Natale Tutti!
Calamari Fritti with Spicy Tomato Sauce
Recipe by Loretta Paganini
Serves 8
Ingredients:
2 lbs. cleaned squid,preferably small
1 cup buttermilk
2 cups cornmeal flour
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. sea salt
8 cups vegetable oil
Directions:
Rinse squid under cold running water and lightly pat dry between paper towels. Leave tentacles whole and cut bodies (including flaps, if attached) crosswise into 1/3 inch wide rings, then reserve. Whisk together cornmeal, flour, salt and garlic in a shallow bowl. Have a medium-mesh sieve in another shallow bowl ready. Heat 3 inches oil in a 5 quart heavy pot over high heat until it registers 365° F on a deep frying thermometer. While oil is heating, dip the squid in the buttermilk. Drain well and dredge a small handful of squid rings in flour mixture, tossing to coat well. Transfer to prepared sieve and shake over other bowl to remove excess flour. Fry floured rings in oil, stirring to separate, until golden, about 2-3 minutes, then transfer with a slotted spoon to dry paper towels to drain, arranging in 1 layer.
Calamari Fritti with Spicy Tomato Sauce continued…. Coat and fry remaining rings in about 4 more batches in same manner, returning oil to 365° F between batches. Transfer fried and drained rings to a shallow baking pan in 1 layer. Coat and fry tentacles in 2 or 3 batches until golden, about 2 minutes per batch, returning oil to 365° F between batches and transferring as fried to paper towels, then to baking pan. Serve with spicy tomato sauce.
Spicy Tomato Sauce
Recipe by Loretta Paganini
Makes 3-4 cups
Ingredients:
2 lbs. ripe Italian plum tomatoes
1 small onion, finely minced
1 small carrot, grated
1 stalk celery, minced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
4 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1/8 tsp. hot pepper
2 Tbsp. fresh basil, chopped
2 cups tomato sauce
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Directions:
In a 2-quart pot, blanch tomatoes in boiling water for a few minutes. Drain, then peel. Chop and set aside.Prepare a soffritto. In a 6-quart stock pot, sauté onion, carrot, celery and garlic in the olive oil until onion is transparent, about 5 minutes. Add prepared tomatoes and hot pepper. Cook at medium heat for 20 minutes, or until reduced. Add basil. Season with salt and pepper, and cook for 10 minutes.
Baccala Cakes with Balsamic Sauce
Recipe by Loretta Paganini
Serves 8
Ingredients:
2 lbs. center-cut skinless boneless salt cod (baccalà), rinsed well
1 red bell pepper, minced
1 shallot, minced
1 Tbsp. capers, well rinsed
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
2 lg. eggs, lightly beaten
1 Tbsp. fresh Italian parsley, minced
1 cup fresh white bread crumbs
8 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
Lemon wedges for garnish
Directions:
In large bowl, combine cod with water to cover by 2 inches. Cover and refrigerate, changing water 4 times a day, 1 to 3 days. Refrigerate until ready to use. Drain cod and pat dry, then place in food processor to chop. In a bowl combine the chopped baccala and black pepper to taste. In a small frying pan cook the red pepper, shallot and capers in butter over moderately low heat, stirring, until it is softened about five minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, stir in the lemon juice, and stir the mixture into the baccala. Add the lightly beaten eggs, parsley and the bread crumbs, combine the mixture gently but thoroughly, and form it into 16 patties, each about 1/2 inch thick. In a large heavy skillet heat the oil over moderately high heat cook the baccala cakes, turning them carefully, for 4 to 5 minutes on each side, or until they are golden brown and crisp. Serve the baccala cakes with the lemon wedges and the balsamic sauce.
Balsamic Sauce
Recipe by Loretta Paganini
Ingredients:
1/3 cup orange juice
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
Directions:
Combine orange juice, brown sugar, tomato sauce and balsamic in heavy medium saucepan. Boil over medium-high heat until mixture is reduced to 1/2 cup, about 5 minutes. Season sauce to taste with salt, pepper, and cayenne. Serve warm.
Pizza della Vigilia
Recipe by Loretta Paganini
Serves 8
Ingredients:
For the pizza dough:
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. dry yeast
3/4 cup warm water
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Topping:
2 cups shredded mozzarella
16 raw shrimp, sliced lengthwise to half
4 oz. calamari rings
20 steamed mussels, out of the shell
4 anchovy fillets
1 cup pizza sauce or pomodoro sauce
Fresh oregano and basil
Salt and pepper to taste.
Directions:
Mix together the yeast and sugar in warm water and let it proof for 10 minutes. Place the flour, salt and oil in a mixing bowl or food processor, pour in the yeast and knead until you have smooth dough. Place dough in an oiled bowl. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and leave it in a warm place for 20-30 minutes to proof. Sprinkle counter with flour and roll the dough out. Oil a pizza pan with little oil and place the pizza dough on it. Spread the pizza sauce and apply the toppings and the cheese. Cook the seafood pizza in a preheated 400° oven until the cheese is bubbly and the crust is cooked.
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