By Dan Pelosi, The New York Times
A marinara-stained kitchen timer ticks as Donna Berzatto choreographs a complex dance of dishes around limited oven space. “I need you to remember to put the Rockefellers in, and take out the artichokes, which leaves an open oven,” she commands her son Carmy. “I need you to put the branzino on the top and let it broil and get that nice little crispy bit.”
The alarm buzzes again and again and again, a metaphor for the ticking time bomb of family drama brewing during preparations for the Christmas Eve tradition of the Feast of the Seven Fishes. The scenes of the high-intensity cooking feat, from the latest season of the popular FX television series “The Bear,” delivered an emotionally heightened portrayal of a tradition dear to many Italian American families. The 67 anxiety-inducing minutes probably didn’t inspire anyone to tackle the celebratory meal.
This is unfortunate because the food is amazing, and the kitchen drama is part of what makes it all worth it. As an Italian American who grew up with the feast, I recognized the truth behind the dramatization in “The Bear”: The meal is often more about the cooking than it is about the eating. As any family who has attempted to prepare it knows, the essence of the Feast of the Seven Fishes is the preparation’s mess, which is inherent to the celebration.
Some believe you have to suffer for the food to taste good (hi, Donna!), while others embrace the chaos and imbue it with laughter and cheer. “For my dad, being in the kitchen is the holiday,” said Francesco Sedita, a co-author of the children’s picture book “Our Italian Christmas Eve.”
In Italy, the traditional Christmas Eve dinner is known as La Vigilia, or the eve. Rooted in Roman Catholicism, which calls for abstaining from meat on the eve of any holiday, La Vigilia tends to be a bounty of seafood. The Feast of the Seven Fishes is uniquely American. Italian immigrants created their own traditions and identities, and likely used the number seven because of its biblical significance.
The feast is typically made up of at least seven dishes, each containing its own type of fish, separated into various courses. There are no strict rules, and no specific fish are required. Every family takes deep pride in their own unique way of orchestrating the feast.
For modern feasts, what remains important is keeping the tradition alive out of respect for the aunts, uncles and grandparents who have prepared the meal for years. The complex menu has evolved, though, to keep the heart of the feast beating.
“Seven fishes for a dinner, realistically, could possibly be a heavy lift for people,” Italian American chef Christian Petroni said.
One way to bring the feast to the table without making it a stressful or dramatic undertaking is to prepare seven fishes, but not seven dishes. This menu does that by including an easy, crowd-pleasing crisp and zesty cold seafood salad that contains three types of seafood. Buttery stuffed clams can be baked then kept warm until it’s time to serve, and anchovy-stuffed dough balls can be formed and fried ahead of time.
For the finale, a saucy and celebratory pasta catches the remaining fish — but it could be the only dish you serve if that’s all you have time to do. If that’s the case, pop open tins of briny anchovies, sardines or mussels for an effortless way to make it to seven fishes.
Each year, as my family works away in the kitchen, we brag about having spent the week before maniacally sourcing seafood from several different fish markets in town, as if there is a badge of honor to be earned for each stop. We laugh as the older generations playfully frighten the children with the more exotic sea creatures. My aunt frantically asks who can bring an extra pot for the pasta, as if she doesn’t have the same urgent revelation every year. There are somehow never enough pots.
As Sedita said, it’s not only about the food but also “the dedication to time spent together. We are in it for the long haul — the laughing, the crying, the yelling.” Ultimately, what we are really feasting on is emotions, which, hopefully, bring on more smiles and less agita than anything on the table.
Recipe: Zeppole con le Alici (Fried Anchovy Balls)
By Dan Pelosi
Each bite of these anchovy-stuffed fried dough rounds begins with a perfectly crisp exterior that gives way to a yeasty, pillowy interior. Once you hit the fish at the center, you are in briny ecstasy. Simple yet addictive, these finger foods are often served at the start of a meal or as a snack at festive Italian and Italian-American gatherings. If you are cooking for vegetarians, feel free to stuff some balls with a sun-dried tomato or an olive instead. If making yeasted dough is not in the cards for you, you can use a pound of prepared pizza dough from a supermarket or pizza shop to achieve similar enough results.
Yield: Makes 32 balls (8 servings)
Total time: 2 hours, 25 minutes
Ingredients
- 2 (1/4-ounce) packets active dry yeast
- 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup warm water
- 1 1/4 cups hot water
- 4 tablespoons/56 grams unsalted butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal) or 1/2 teaspoon table salt
- 3 1/2 cups/440 grams all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
- Vegetable oil, for deep-frying (4 to 5 cups) and greasing bowl
- 32 oil-packed anchovy fillets (from two 3.35-ounce jars), drained and separated
- Chopped parsley and lemon wedges, for serving
Preparation
1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and 2 teaspoons sugar in the warm water. Set aside until foamy and fragrant, about 5 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, pour the hot water into a large mixing bowl. Add butter, 1 tablespoon sugar and 1 teaspoon salt and stir until butter melts. Let cool for 5 minutes. Add yeast mixture and flour and stir to combine into a shaggy dough.
3. Knead dough on a generously floured surface for 5 minutes, until a smooth ball is formed. Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover tightly and let rise for 1 hour.
4. Clip a deep-fry thermometer to the side of a large Dutch oven and set it over medium heat. Add oil to a depth of 2 to 3 inches and heat to 400 degrees. If you don’t have a thermometer, you can drop a small piece of dough into the oil. If it sizzles immediately, it’s ready.
5. While the oil heats, scoop the dough into 32 balls (about 1 very generous tablespoon each). Hold a ball in your palm and use your thumb to make an indentation in the center of the dough. Place one whole anchovy inside, pinch the dough shut, then roll into a smooth ball, completely submerging the anchovy in dough. Continue doing this with the rest of the balls and anchovies, placing them on a tray as you go.
6. Working in batches so as to not overcrowd the pot, carefully lower the dough balls into the hot oil and fry until dark golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes, turning as needed to evenly brown. Place fried balls on a paper towel-lined tray to drain and cool slightly. Continue frying the dough balls, allowing the oil to return to 400 degrees in between batches.
7. Serve hot, warm or at room temperature, topped with parsley and served with lemon wedges.
Recipe: Insalata di Frutti di Mare (Italian Seafood Salad)
By Dan Pelosi
Crisp and zesty, this version of the classic Italian dish uses shrimp, scallops and calamari but works well with any seafood you can get your hands on. It can be served as an appetizer for a large feast or as the main course of a smaller meal. Steaming the seafood instead of boiling it makes it more tender and simultaneously gives it a snappier bite. Submerged in an abundant amount of tart dressing while it cools in the refrigerator, the seafood, along with fennel and celery, ends up infused with serious flavor. Spicy jarred cherry peppers add a welcome hit of heat, but sweet cherry peppers can be substituted.
Yield: 8 servings
Total time: 2 1/2 hours
Ingredients
- Ice
- 5 lemons
- 1 pound shrimp, peeled, deveined and tails removed
- 1 pound sea scallops, halved horizontally
- 1 pound calamari, tubes cut into 1/2-inch rings, tentacles left whole
- 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 4 garlic cloves, finely grated
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- Salt and black pepper
- 1 cup thinly sliced fennel (from 1 small bulb)
- 1 cup thinly sliced celery (from 1 to 3 stalks)
- 1 cup torn or sliced pitted Castelvetrano olives
- 1/2 cup drained jarred sliced hot cherry peppers
- 1 cup chopped fresh parsley, plus more for garnish
Preparation
1. Place a steamer basket or metal colander inside a large pot. Add water, making sure it does not rise above the bottom of the steamer. Cover the pot and bring the water to a simmer. Meanwhile, fill a large bowl with water, ice and the juice of one lemon.
2. Place the shrimp in the steamer, cover and steam for 2 to 3 minutes, until opaque and cooked through, then transfer to the ice bath. When cool, lift out and place on a towel-lined tray to dry. Repeat with the scallops and then the calamari. Transfer to the refrigerator to cool for at least 15 minutes.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the olive oil, 1/2 cup lemon juice (from 2 to 3 lemons), garlic, vinegar and 1 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Add the fennel, celery, olives, cherry peppers, parsley, the zest of 1 lemon and all of the seafood. Gently mix everything together, ensuring the scallops do not break apart. Submerge as much seafood as possible in the dressing in the bowl by gently pressing it down. Cover tightly and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 1 day.
4. Before serving, give the salad a mix and season to taste with salt and pepper. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the salad into a serving dish. Spoon some (or all) of the dressing over the salad and garnish with extra chopped parsley and lemon zest.
Recipe: Clams Oreganata (Baked Stuffed Clams)
By Dan Pelosi
In this take on the beloved Italian American classic, butter crackers are used in place of plain breadcrumbs to add their unique fatty saltiness to the crunchy topping. Shallots, dried oregano and Parmesan join the stuffing party, and spooning in a modest amount ensures the flavor of the clams shines through. Sometimes, the clams are chopped up in this dish, but here they’re kept whole to preserve their briny juiciness and to make the preparation easier. Clams are gently steamed just until they open enough to shuck, separating the shells and prying out the meat. Save the cooking liquid to make a delicious buttery wine sauce to spoon over the baked clams before eating.
Yield: 24 clams (6 to 8 servings)
Total time: 1 hour
Ingredients
- 24 littleneck clams (about 2 pounds), scrubbed and rinsed
- 8 tablespoons salted butter
- 1 shallot, minced
- Salt
- 3/4 cup crushed butter crackers, such as Ritz
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
- 3/4 cup clam broth
- 3/4 cup dry white wine
- Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
- Chopped fresh parsley, for serving
- Lemon wedges, for serving
Preparation
1. Heat the oven to 425 degrees.
2. Fill a pot with water to a depth of 1/4 inch, bring to a boil, add clams and cover. Steam until they just open, removing them one by one to a bowl as they do, 4 to 7 minutes. Pull off and discard (or compost) the top shells. Strain the broth and save for later. Place the halved clams on a half sheet pan.
3. Melt 4 tablespoons butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the shallot, sprinkle with salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the crackers, oregano and Parmesan to combine.
4. Scoop a heaping teaspoon of the cracker mixture over each clam. Sprinkle any extra onto the sheet pan, then pour the wine and reserved clam broth into the pan, under the shells. Cut the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter into small cubes and scatter on the pan. Drizzle olive oil over the top of the clams.
5. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the topping is golden brown.
6. Remove the clams from the oven, and arrange on a serving tray. Pour the liquid from the pan into a serving tray for guests to spoon over clams before eating. Sprinkle with parsley and serve with lemon wedges on the side.
Recipe: Mussels and Cod Bucatini With Spicy Tomato Sauce
By Dan Pelosi
Simple yet celebratory, this hearty seafood pasta is a party dish that your guests will want to tuck into. White wine-steamed mussels and tomato-poached cod top a mound of bucatini coated in a buttery, brothy sauce. Calabrian chile paste adds depth of flavor to the tomato sauce and a small hit of heat. Of course, you can use as much of it as you — and your guests — can handle. If this dish is served on its own, it’s enough to feed eight. As part of a feast, it’s easily 12 servings or more. For smaller celebrations or a weeknight meal, it can be halved easily.
Yield: 8 to 12 servings
Total time: About 1 hour
Ingredients
- Salt
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 shallots, minced
- 10 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- Black pepper
- Crushed red pepper
- 1 1/2 cups dry white wine
- 2 pounds mussels, cleaned (see Tip)
- 1 (28-ounce) can tomato purée
- 1 tablespoon Calabrian chile paste, plus more to taste
- 3 pounds cod fillet, cut into 1-inch cubes
- 2 pounds bucatini or other long pasta
- 4 tablespoons salted butter
- 1 cup chopped parsley, plus more for garnish
- 1 lemon
Preparation
1. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil over high heat.
2. In a separate large pot over medium heat, add the olive oil, shallots and garlic plus a few pinches of salt, black pepper and red pepper. Cook, stirring a few times, until translucent, about 3 minutes.
3. Add white wine, then cover and bring to a simmer. Add mussels and cover again. Cook for 5 to 7 minutes, until mussels have all opened. Place opened mussels into a bowl and cover with foil to keep warm. If there are a few left unopened, cover the pot for a minute at a time until they all open. (Discard any that don’t open.)
4. Stir the tomato purée, chile paste and a few pinches of salt into the mussel broth, maintaining medium heat. Add the cod, gently stir to coat, cover and cook for 7 minutes, until the cod is opaque but still firm.
5. Meanwhile, drop the bucatini into the boiling water and cook until al dente according to the package’s directions. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water, then drain the pasta.
6. Add the bucatini, butter and parsley to the tomato sauce and stir. Add reserved pasta water, 1/4 cup at a time, as needed until the sauce is glossy and clinging to the pasta. Squeeze the juice of the lemon over pasta and stir. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
7. Transfer pasta to a serving bowl (or keep in the pot) and add the mussels and any accumulated liquid. Garnish with more chopped parsley. Serve immediately.
Tips
Soak mussels in cold water and scrub any dirt or debris off of their shells. Discard any mussels with open, cracked or chipped shells.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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