Sunday, December 26, 2010

Happy Holidays, Happy Eating

Christmas Eve in my Italian family is probably the most important food day of the year. Carrying on the tradition of the Feast of Seven Fishes, we enjoy several seafood courses, with some old classics and some new dishes we've added over the years. While we typically have more than seven fish to choose from, each person should make sure they've sampled at least seven.

Course 1 - Appetizers
Shrimp cocktail
Smelts tempura (a small fish, sort of the size of a chicken finger)
Mussels
Sushi
Fried calamari rings (breaded)

Course 2 - Clam chowder

Course 3 - Pasta
Spaghetti and tomato sauce cooked with a variety of seafood - calamari, eel, baccala (salt-cured cod)

Course 4 - Fish
Fried calamari

Baccala salad with olives, carrots and peppers

Smelts baked in tomato sauce
Crab-stuffed flounder

Broiled eel with lemon
Shrimp scampi




Each year, we change something, and I'm looking forward to what next year will bring. What was on your holiday dinner table?

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