You may be asking yourself, why is she writing about an Italian Christmas? Honestly, I love Italian food but that’s not the reason. Recently, I watched a fantastic movie (of course) “The Feast Of Seven Fishes”. It looked good and it is one to watch if you’re wanting a Christmas movie but not just your average everyday Christmas movie.
Having learned more about the Italian culture recently, I was able to truly appreciate the dynamics and humor in this saga. This family lived in the Northeast. From what I know, it seemed to be how a crazy house full of Italians would celebrate a special feast. As per my usual, I won’t spoil the movie with details but just a few highlights of humor.
There is a celebration on Christmas Eve called The Feast of Seven Fishes honored by many Italian families. They prepare for this a few days ahead of time by gathering, you guessed it, seven kinds of fishes. Baking, broiling, frying, soaking all are involved. But it’s mostly about the drinking, laughing, yelling and some dancing thrown in the mix.
Apparently in the true Italian tradition, the more the merrier and this one young lady finds herself falling for an Italian young man with this loud, rambunctious and colorful family. The full blooded Italian grandmother had migrated to the America many years before and mind you, feisty as she could be. She was one of my favorite characters in the movie.
They did not mess around when it came to desserts either. It was a full on feast that goes for hours. After midnight they could eat sausage and other meats. You see, they’re Catholic. That brings me back to the grandmother. Since the young lady is not Catholic, the grandmother insisted they go to Midnight Mass together. No worries. It all worked out for a sweet ending to the movie, but not your Hallmark Christmas movie.
Some time back many years ago, I started making lasagna for Thanksgiving and even Christmas. I did not know about this feast. I have no claim to being Italian in my family history but my taste buds would claim otherwise. Since Italian food is my favorite. I may have fit in with that crazy bunch of Italians. They know how to cook and eat! Oh, that’s a good idea. What’s for dinner?
I’ll be back…
