Dec 3, 2013 3 min read

For many of us, Christmas Eve is celebrated with family and friends wrapped around religious and cultural traditions.

Italians, however, embrace Christmas Eve with a celebration of great food, something they call La Vigilia, Feast of the Seven Fishes.

The origin for La Vigilia, (the Vigil) has many theories. Some might say the seven fishes represent the seven sacraments in the Catholic faith or perhaps the number of days it took God to create the universe.

But when it comes to the menu of this evening feast, there are two things that stay true: No meat and seven fishes.

The starter (hors d’oeuvres) for an Italian meal is antipasto. It is a plate of cold meats or vegetables that is served before the meal. A true antipasto platter will tantalize any palate. Begin with fresh smoked mozzarella, pecorino and provolone cheeses, add roasted red peppers, a selection of stuffed and marinated olives, pepperoncini, artichoke hearts and a pinzimonio.

Pinzimonio consists of assorted vegetables, such as cherry tomatoes, cauliflower, fennel bulb, carrots and red bell peppers. After cutting the vegetables into bite size pieces, toss them in a 1/2 cup olive oil with 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon of ground fresh black pepper. Normally I would add an imported prosciutto, Genoa salami and a sweet sopressata, a dry Italian salami, but the menu has to be true with no meat added. You can also add to your table sliced Italian bread and a selection of dipping oils and marinated fresh anchovies.

Then comes the choices of seafood. It is a good idea to break it down into a few categories, starting with whiting, monkfish, codfish, anchovies, swordfish and other fillet fish. Add a wide selection of shellfish, such as shrimp, clams, mussels and oysters prepared in various ways. Other items from the sea can be calamari and eel to round out the menu for this Christmas Eve celebration.

A typical menu could look something like this: Start with grilled mussels with salsa verde, which is mussels topped with garlic, capers, lemon zest and herbs. Follow with a stuffed sole with lump crab meat broiled with a touch of lemon juice. You can include linguine with a white clam sauce, or Italian mussels, scallops and shrimp tossed with lots of garlic in a traditional marinara sauce served over a bed of pasta.

Or, how about about a Provencal stew, such as bouillabaisse with spicy rouille or perhaps, fresh broiled scallops.

Remember, there are no hard and fast rules to follow, except the meal must include seven different varieties of fish.

The special ingredients you add will be family, tradition and time spent with people you love.