For many Italian Americans, Christmas dinner isn’t complete without seafood. The Feast of the Seven Fishes (or La Vigilia) is exactly what it sounds like — an epic feast of seven distinct seafood dishes. The tradition can be traced to the Roman Catholic tradition of abstaining from meat on holidays (such as Christmas). So, instead of meat as the centerpiece, an abundance of fish and shellfish is served for dinner. For the seafood lover, it’s a dream scenario.
If you’re not lucky enough to have this tradition in your family, the next best thing is to experience this feast at a restaurant. At Piccola Cucina Estiatorio in New York, Chef Philip Guardione is bringing his Sicilian take on this tradition. “It’s my way of bringing a little bit of home,” explains Guardione. “Specifically, Sicily, where seafood is abundant, to NYC.”
An Italian American tradition
The tradition of the Feast of Seven Fishes can be traced to Southern Italy. Many of the early Italian American immigrants to America in the 19th Century hailed from Southern Italy, where seafood is a major part of the diet. While there was a tradition of eating seafood for Christmas in Southern Italy, the number “seven” was not attached to the name until America. In Southern Italy, it was mostly referred to as La Vigilia.
Given the name, the meal requires seven different seafood dishes. However, there isn’t a set standard of what the dishes should be, and it really depends on the family. “The dishes you eat in the South may vary from the dishes you eat in the North, etc,” explains Guardione. “I’ve been touched over the years on how faithful Italian Americans are to this tradition, just as invested in this custom as Italians in Italy — every family will have their own recipes and beloved dishes they recreate year after year. It’s beautiful to see how immigrants who arrived generations ago were able to pass down La Vigilia.”
Chef Guardione’s Sicilian menu
Priced at $150 per person, the Feast of Seven Fishes at Piccola Cucina Estiatorio is a set menu of four appetizers, two pasta courses, a main course (on my visit, a branzino), and a dessert. As expected, there is a strong Sicilian influence in the food, given Chef Guardione’s background. Sicilian cuisine is seafood-centric, with much usage of oily fish like sardines and tuna.
This Sicilian flair is apparent in the caponata, a sweet, fried eggplant, which is also upgraded by Guardione with the addition of tuna. The eggplant (which happens to be Guardione’s favorite dish on the set menu) is served cold and sweet with a slight tang of vinegar. The addition of tuna gives an umami balance to the appetizer. There are also several squid dishes, both fried and grilled (the grilled squid is served with guacamole, a modern take). But another dish that embraces the Sicilian roots is the bucatini alle sarde. Thick bucatini pasta is tossed with sardines, pine nuts, and fennel; the pasta is not only fishy (in a good way), but it also has a distinctive bite of sweetness due to the addition of raisins.
