Feast of the Seven Fishes in Asheville celebrates Italian tradition

Though rich foods and sweets tend to dominate the holiday season, at least one segment of the population celebrates with a marginally lighter meal.

The Feast of the Seven Fishes is an Italian tradition, brought here by Italian-Americans. As the name suggests, it's a seafood-heavy affair, one that pays homage to a Catholic custom of abstaining from meat on Christmas Eve.

But in this case, abstinence does not equal austerity. Red sauce often abounds, and pasta is not verboten. Sometimes fish is crispy fried, or smothered in a blanket of butter.

Take as an example the expansive meal that chef Anthony Cerrato will serve at his restaurant, Strada Italiano, on Dec. 23 as well as New Year's Eve. "It's a little more than seven fish," he said, laughing.

Though the Feast of the Seven Fishes is typically a Christmas Eve meal, Cerrato gives his staff the night off. And since the meal is typically eaten while waiting for the Catholic midnight mass to begin, it translates well to a New Year's Eve meal, too.

And tiny, fried fish are good, no matter what the calendar and clock say.

"We've sourced smelts, a small whole fish that we batter and fry," said Cerrato, describing a seafood salad that would include the tiny fish as well as fried calamari and baccala — salt-cod — fritters, all served with tomato-onion salad. (Find a recipe for those fritters below.)

Another course will have lobster, baby clams and mussels in spicy tomato-based fra diavolo sauce served over perciatelli, a tubular pasta. "Since it has the hole in the center, the sauce gets into the pasta as well," Cerrato explained.

That dish will come with crusty bread smeared with a shrimp-infused herb and garlic butter.

Even if Cerrato tweaks his seafood numbers, numeral seven carries special meaning to the Italians who celebrate the tradition. According to Cerrato, it represents the seven provinces around Rome. Others say it refers to seven hills in Rome, while others say it nods to the number of sacraments in the Roman Catholic Church, even the seven pilgrimage churches in Rome.

Even though the meal nods chiefly to Italy (and plenty to Catholicism), it's not terribly popular among Italians who actually live in Italy, many agree. "It's bigger with Italian-Americans in the northeast," Ceratto said.

Ceratto grew up in Nutley, New Jersey, and used to celebrate the tradition with his family — or, more accurately, eat in the same room as they did.

"I was not a big seafood eater, so my grandmother would make me lasagne and some other stuff," he said. "I came to like fish as I got older, but as a kid I was like, 'oh God.' Christmas Eve was not a fun time for me."

But he gritted his teeth until midnight, when he was allowed to tear open his Christmas presents.

Plus, there were plenty of desserts to eat, like the Strada ricotta cookies in the recipe below. They're reminiscent of the many, many sweets that Cerrato's grandmother whipped up to finish any holiday meal.

"Every holiday was a big deal," Cerrato said.

Lidia Bastianich, who emigrated to the United States from Istria, Italy, has much more fond memories of seafood from her childhood, which she writes about in her book, "Lidia's Italian-American Kitchen."

In the '70s and '80s, she'd visit the docks of Freeport on Long Island, New York, and bought octopus, skate and mackerel from the fisherman there.

"It was all reminiscent of my childhood," she writes. "The smell of the sea and the fresh fish, the sounds of the boat docking. And here I was, in another country, another time, carrying on my culinary heritage."

In her native Istria, a peninsula jutting into the Adriatic sea, seafood was served with little adornment and often fully intact, such as the oven-roasted whole turbot she serves.

In Southern Italy, the love for seafood is even more pronounced. Southern Italians consume more fish than any other Italians, more than 60 pounds per person per year, writes Nancy Jenkins in her book, "Cucina Del Sole."

"Put that against Americans' paltry 14 pounds each, and you'll see what we're up against in the international fish consumption stakes," she says.

What's more, the Italian tradition of eating fish on the bone doesn't exactly fly well in the states. Mario Batali, another well-known Italian American cook (and a business partner of Bastianich's) writes in his book, The Babbo Cookbook," that Americans are rather "skittish about bones in our fish and mollusk shells in our pasta."

But the American distaste for "funny" fish parts — the tail and skin of a crispy grilled fish, the collars and other bits — is starting to diminish, at least according to Bastianich.

"Things are changing," she writes. "Those delicacies, along with polipo, scungilli, baccala and seppie, which were a hard sell 10-15 years ago in Italian-American restaurants, are gaining in popularity daily."

At Strada, Cerrato confirmed that diners are getting over the bone aversion — that's why smelts are in his Feast of the Fishes.

"The bones are so small, it just adds crunch," he said.

RICOTTA COOKIES

Total preparation is 25 minutes. Allow 10-12 minutes baking time per batch. Yield: 50 cookies.

Cookies:

1 cup softened butter

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

1-15 ounces container ricotta cheese

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

Frosting:

1/4 cup butter, softened

3 to 4 cups confectioners' sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extrac

t3 to 4 tablespoons milk

Colored sprinkles

Cream together butter and sugar in medium bowl. Add eggs, one at a time, beating each well into the mixture. Beat in ricotta and vanilla. Separately, combine flour, salt and baking soda. Then gradually add to creamed mixture. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls, leaving two inches' space between, onto greased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to wire racks for cooling.

While cookies bake, mix together butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla and enough milk to reach spreading consistency in a large bowl. Frost cooled cookies and immediately decorate with sprinkles. Store in the refrigerator … if impatient onlookers have not reached them yet!

BACCALA FRITTO: FRIED SALT COD

1 large shallot, minced

Lemon wedges, for serving

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Vegetable oil, for frying

1 pound Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch chunks

1 ¹/₂ cups fine bread crumbs

¹/₂ pound skinless, boneless salt cod, rinsed

8 garlic cloves — 3 smashed, 5 minced

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 thyme sprigs

1 large egg yolk

1 cup milk

1 bay leaf

3 large eggs

In a medium bowl, cover the salt cod with cold water and soak in the refrigerator for 24 hours or for up to two days. Change the water at least three times.

Drain the salt cod; transfer to a large saucepan. Add the milk, thyme, bay leaf and smashed garlic. Pour in enough water to cover the fish by 2 inches. Simmer over low heat for 20 minutes, until the fish flakes with a fork. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the fish to a plate and let cool. Flake the fish.

Add the potatoes to the saucepan and simmer until tender, 10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the potatoes to a large bowl along with 2 tablespoons of the cooking liquid; mash to a coarse puree.

In a small skillet, heat the olive oil. Add the shallot and minced garlic and cook over moderate heat until softened, about four minutes. Scrape the mixture into the bowl with the potatoes. Add the salt cod, and egg yolk and stir until blended. Refrigerate the mixture until chilled, at least 30 minutes.

In a shallow bowl, beat the eggs with 1 teaspoon of water. Put the flour and bread crumbs in shallow bowls. Line a baking sheet with wax paper. Form the salt cod mixture into 1-tablespoon-size balls. Dredge the balls in flour, dip them in the beaten eggs and coat with the bread crumbs. Arrange the croquettes on the prepared baking sheet and refrigerate until chilled, about 10 minutes.

Fill a large, deep skillet with ¹/₂ inch of vegetable oil and heat until shimmering. Working in two batches, fry the croquettes over high heat, turning once or twice, until golden all over, about four minutes; drain on paper towels. Transfer the croquettes to a platter and serve with lemon wedges.

IF YOU GO

What: Feast of the Seven Fishes at Strada.

Where: 27 Broadway St., Asheville.

When: Dec. 23 and Dec. 31.

Reservations: Call 348-8448. $35 per person; a credit card number will be required for confirmation.