» Feast of the Seven Fishes

Seven Fishes Feast Round-Up

Joe — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 14:41:54 +0000

It was a small turn out for this year’s “Seven Fishes Feast” but that’s not going to stop us from making merry! We have some wonderful recipes, I’ll pull out some vino bianco and we’ll give everything a try.

Linda at “Ciao Chow Linda” has gotten this party started the right way… she posted a great sordfish recipe but also gives you a peek into her family’s Christmas Eve tradition and some other great seafood dishes they serve. So head over and check out her recipe. Thanks Linda!

Mediterranean-style Swordfish from “Ciao Chow Linda”

Ozoz at “Kitchen Butterfly” is bringing a delicious looking seafood Cartoccio. She tried it while visiting Roma with her husband and hunted down the recipe when she got home. She does a great job of giving her readers a photo step-by-step recipe. Thanks Ozoz!

Ling Al Cartoccio from Ozoz at “Kitchen Butterfly”

Marla at “Bella Baita View” is bringing an antipasto… but not just any antipasto, Sardines Piemontese Style! As she mentions in her post, if the only sardines you’ve tried are those from a can… you really haven’t tried sardines.

Sardines Piemontese Style from “Bella Baita View”

Claudia at “Journey of an Italian Cook” is bringing Cioppino… or as her Aunt Fay calls it, “Neopolitan Stew.” Call it whatever you want… it looks delicious! I won’t be pushing anything aside on this dish Claudia!

Cioppino from Journey of an Italian Cook

So these are the recipes from this years “Seven Fishes Feast” thanks to Linda, Ozoz, Marla and Claudia. I’ve decided to send them all a little something, so I’ll be contacting them soon. If you would like to come to the party a little late, we would still love to have you! So keep the recipes coming and I’ll keep posting them. Ciao for now.

Here’s what you need to do to participate.

Additonal Recipes:

Jady at Cucina Panzano made these wonderful Stuffed Swordfish Rolls/-Involtini di Pesce Spada inspired by her Auntie Ella. These look amazing… thanks Jady!

Stuffed Swordfish Rolls/-Involtini di Pesce Spada from Cucina Panzano

Valerie at La Cucina has a recipe for Pesce al Forno that she made and gives you her experience with the “Feast of the Seven Fishes.” Thanks Valerie!

Pesce al Forno

Calling All Fish – Seven Fishes Feast

Joe — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 15:10:15 +0000

It looks like we have a slow start to this years Seven Fishes Feast… so I’ll have to get things started with some of my favorite dishes. My father is the fisherman in the family and a great cook as well… so he usually takes the reigns on Christmas Eve. { To be clear, he usually designates my mother as Sous Chef (she does all the real work) and he puts things together to make it seem like he did it all… but I promise I won’t tell anyone dad.} I’ll share the recipes for these soon but you’ll have to share yours first.

Make sure to submit your recipe for the “Seven Fishes Feast!” The deadline is December 18th. Here’s what you need to do to participate.

Here are some of my favorites:

Insalata di Mare

Zuppa di Pesce

Baccala’ con pomodori e olive (this is a Calabrian Specialty)

Seven Fishes Feast 2009

Joe — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 22:56:05 +0000

It’s that wonderful time of the year again! We had our first snow here in New England this past weekend with more on the way tonight, which always helps me get into the Holiday Spirit. Christmas Eve is only a few weeks away, so we need to start planning for a wonderful Feast! My family, like many other Italian families has always enjoyed the “Feast of the Seven Fishes” on Christmas Eve and it’s one of my favorite days of the year.

A little Background on the Feast of the Seven Fishes: For those of you not familiar with the Feast of the Seven Fishes, it’s an Italian tradition of preparing seven different types of fish for Christmas Eve dinner. To be clear, not all Italians recognize or follow this tradition and some have never even heard of it. It seems to be more of a southern Italian tradition that has grown within the Italian American community. (My mother’s side of the family followed a similar tradition which included 9 non-meat dishes when she was growing up in Calabria.)

Regardless of your religion or cultural traditions, I would like to invite you all to participate in the 2nd Annual “Seven Fishes Feast.” Last year I co-hosted with Maryann from “Finding La Dolce Vita” but as many of you know, Maryann has left the blogosphere (I still miss her wonderful recipes and creativity!) So this year I will have to host “da solo.”

So come join me for a wonderful fish feast. I’ll be accepting recipe’s until December 18th.

Like last year, I’ll be giving away some Italian Christmas treats to one participant chosen at random:

A Box of Torrone
A Panetone
Bellagio Gourmet Hot Chocolate
A jar of our homemade roasted red peppers

This is what you have to do to participate:

Create a fish or shellfish dish and post it on your blog.
Display the “Seven Fishes Feast” badge and link back to Italyville.
Send your entry to me at joe (at) italyville (dot) com and put “Seven Fishes Feast” in the subject line.
Tell me your name, blog name, url, the name of your recipe with a photo and a link to your post.

I’ll be choosing a winner at random on Saturday December 19th. Happy cooking and hope to see you at the Feast!

Seven Fishes Feast – A Food Blogger Event

Joe — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 23:32:52 +0000

Now that Thanksgiving is over and December has arrived, Italians go into overdrive in the kitchen. There are so many wonderful dishes, recipes, specialties and customs that come along with the holidays, which for me has always been a wonderful time of year. Christmas Eve in particular is one of my favorites as we celebrate “La Vigilia” with a fish feast! As a matter of fact, my very first post on Italyville was on Christmas Eve last year and I posted on the “Seven Fishes” which is a tradition with many Italian families including mine. I was recently sent a book called, “Feast of the Seven Fishes” by Robert Tinnell, Shannon Tinnell, Ed Piskor and Alex Saviuk. The team over at “Feast of the Seven Fishes” sent me 2 copies actually…. one for me and one to give away on Italyville. It’s a wonderful comic strip story about family, friends, love and best of all… food! Robert Tinnell who grew up Italian American also includes recipes he and his wife Shannon make for their ”Feast of the Seven Fishes.” In addition, there are some great photos and a brief family history of growing up Italian American in West Virginia.

So, in celebration of the holidays and “la Vigilia di Natale”, Maryann of Finding la Dolce Vita and I are hosting a virtual “Seven Fishes Feast” We will be giving away a copy of “Feast of the Seven Fishes” …. but since it’s the season of giving, we are sweeting the pot! (that’s just how we roll) So here’s a photo and list of “Italian products” in our holiday gift basket: {Note: products in the gift basket may vary to apply to postal laws}

1 homemade sopressata
1 small bottle of extra virgin olive oil from Calabria
1 jar of homemade roasted red peppers
1 bag of Perugina Baci
1 package of cookies (Savoiardi/lady fingers)
1 panettone
2 boxes of Properzi torrone (regular and chocolate covered)
1 book – “Feast of the Seven Fishes”

So come join us for a wonderful fish feast. We are accepting recipe’s until December 18th.

This is what you have to do to participate:

Create a fish or shellfish dish and post it on your blog.
Display our “Seven Fishes Feast” badge and link back to both Maryann and me.
Send your entry to me at joe (at) italyville (dot) com and put “Seven Fishes Feast” in the subject line.
Tell me your name, blog name, url, the name of your recipe with a photo and a link to your post.

Maryann and I will be posting the recipes as they arrive… so keep checking back! We will chose a winner at random on December 19th.

….and thanks for the early Blogoversary wishes Maryann!