You might enjoy a “Feast of the Seven Fishes.”
For this week’s post, we take a fun departure from fisheries science to explore a bit of food culture. After all, food is a central, unifying part of holidays globally, acting as a cultural connector through shared meals, traditions, and family recipes.
One holiday seafood tradition, especially for Italian-Americans like me, is the Feast of the Seven Fishes on Christmas Eve. The dinner features multiple seafood courses, stemming from Southern Italian Catholic customs of abstaining from meat on holy vigils.
In 1919, my father’s family founded DeMartino Sea Food in Hell’s Kitchen, New York City. For three generations, our family ran the business, purchasing fresh seafood early every morning from the Fulton Fish Market. The store was featured regularly in publications, such as the New York Times, showcasing the family business as a source for less common but delicious fish — including monkfish, tilefish and even dogfish. Sales soared in the weeks leading up to the holidays, as patrons sought high-quality seafood and the local cultural knowledge of the family “fishmongers.”
If you love a seafood spread, cooking up a feast of seven fishes makes for a very special holiday meal. Here are seven picks to try from our Mariner’s Menu collection of kitchen-tested seafood recipes.
Baked Oysters with Garlic Butter
Crab Cakes with Fresh Basil and Thyme
Wishing you and yours a happy holiday season!
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