The FEAST OF THE SEVEN FISHES is an Italian dinner tradition, originating from Southern Italy and dates back to medieval times. It reflects on the Roman Catholic practice of abstinence from meat and milk products on Fridays and specific holy days. In American this “feast” is a completely Italian-American practice.

The “Feast of the Seven Fishes”, a celebration of Christmas Eve with meals of fish and seafood, but there may be seven, eight, or even nine specific fishes that are considered traditional. There are many hypotheses for what the number “7″ relates to, one being the number of Sacraments in the Roman Catholic Church. Another theory is that seven is a number representing perfection: the traditional Biblical number for divinity is three, and for Earth is four, and the combination of these numbers, seven, represents God on Earth, or Jesus Christ.

So, how about joining in and making your Christmas Eve a “fish” night with some of these terrific recipes from THE SEVEN FISHES BLOG.