Feast of the Seven Fishes

On Friday December 12 we held our second Feast of the Seven Fishes. For those of you who may not be aware, this is a southern Italian feast that has made its way into becoming a staple of Italian-American Christmas time traditions. The tradition grew out of a need to celebrate Christmas in grand fashion. Because fish is much more plentiful in southern Italy, not to mention how much cheaper it is than red meat, seven fish would be cooked and prepared for the whole family. Like any tradition, however, nothing stays the same forever, and the meal has changed in America to not only reflect the traditional fishes that would most often be eaten, but also the ones that are most available to us here. Due to the big crowds we were expecting (we had 38 people crammed into our lounge at one point, crazy) our meal turned into the Feast of the Nine Fishes. These included Fried Calamari, Bakala

two types of Eel, Baked Haddock, Merluts, Smelts, Linguine and Clams, and even some crab cakes for the less adventurous...not to mention our sides and desserts of course. We had three tables filled with food. Three. Check out some of the pics below

This was our main table, filled with fish and sides...and maybe a little vino

I caused a grease fire at one point. It was almost scary. Also, Dr. Florio and I were chastised for not practicing the old "clean as you cook" method. We ended up not having to do any cleaning ourselves, however, so I think we can confidently say we won that battle.

-Ben