Some Italian-American families celebrate Christmas Eve with a dinner of many fish dishes. This is a wonderful holiday tradition that has evolved, in our family, to honor the many ethnic groups and food preferences of the extended family.
If you have a large guest list and a small table without enough chairs, try hosting a Hawai’ian-style “heavy pupus” (hot and substantial appetizers) Feast of the Seven Fishes. You can make this meal entirely gluten free without bothering any of the guests!
Get together an eclectic play list of music, including some hits from the year and some holiday music. When “Who let the dogs out?” or “The Macarena” were popular, we included them along with the Jingle Bells. It is nice to have variety instead of an endless train of Joy, Joy, Joy, since everyone has challenges as well as happiness during the holidays. It is nice to include some favorite music and foods of people who used to celebrate with you but have passed away, to include them in the party even though they are not corporeally present.
Traditional Dishes:
- Baccalà (hot dish)
- Baccalà (cold salad)
- Mare Salad
- Pasta con alici (make with GF spaghetti)
Fusion Feast of the Seven Fishes Dishes:
- Crab Cakes
- Shrimp Sushi
- Mini Lobster Rolls
- Filipino Lumpia
- Fried Fish
- Jonah Crab Claws with Cocktail Sauce
- Oysters Rockefeller
- Fish Cakes
- Codfish with Orange Sauce
- Crab Dip with plantain chips
- Gravlax
- Spanish tapas – Shrimp with garlic
- Mare Salad
- Fish cakes with Wasabi Ginger Tarter Sauce (must be heavily adapted to gluten free)