Just Cook It: Twas the night before Christmas
Next to Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve is my favorite holiday.
Before I get into the food aspect of Christmas Eve versus Christmas Day, let me first touch on one other fact. Even as a young child, Christmas Eve always had a magical feel to me that I loved.
It’s the excitement and suspense of looking forward to the next day and all of the presents and celebration that come with it. It’s the thought of Santa readying his sleigh and then flying throughout the world, lead by his magical reindeer, to finally slide down MY chimney and leave ME all of the presents that I asked for.
I would wake up on Christmas morning to excitedly find the cookies, milk, and carrot that I left out for Rudolf had all been eaten. I would then just as excitedly open all of my gifts.
After discovering that I had gotten all that I had asked for and more I was always happy and thankful, but then it was over. All the excitement and expectation from the weeks and more specifically night before was gone.
That is the first reason I prefer Christmas Eve to Christmas Day. I understand that they go hand in hand, but I like the excitement of having the good stuff to look forward to. The feeling is sometimes better than the event.
The next obvious reason I prefer Christmas Eve to Christmas Day is the food. I love fish and seafood and I feel like seafood is never really given its due. It’s true that really good fresh seafood is hard to come by in this area, but it is not impossible.
Christmas Eve in my family is a seafood feast that I very much look forward to every year. It is an Italian tradition that many families in the local area still celebrate and one tradition that I will fight to keep alive while I am still alive to do so.
My aunt and uncle have hosted the event and prepared the traditional fare with some family staples added to the menu for years. One of my favorite meals of the year is the one that 25 to 30 of us share between three or four different tables at their house. It’s very difficult to fit that many people around one table, so we make it work as best we can.
The menu for us usually changes from year to year and includes a few staple dishes such as pasta with anchovies, shrimp cocktail, fried smelts, and of course baccal脿 (salted cod).
The Feast of the Seven Fishes is a true Italian tradition. No one really knows for sure where the “Seven” Fishes actually came from but many speculate that it is because seven is the most repeated number in the Bible. The number actually appears in the Bible over 700 times. Some people also believe that the number seven refers to the seven Sacraments of the Catholic Church.
Some families celebrate Christmas Eve with 10 different fish dishes to refer to the Stations of the Cross. While some celebrate with 13 seafood dishes to refer to the 12 apostles plus Jesus.
The religious symbolism, no doubt, comes from the fact that most Italians are traditionally Catholic. It is also the reason for fish and seafood. In many parts of Italy the night of Christmas Eve is traditionally a partial fast – which means no meat should be served.
So what do you do if you don’t particularly enjoy seafood? Not to worry, other items are usually served as well for that very reason. Some type of pasta minus seafood is usually prepared and there are always plenty of other vegetable options on the table.
One dish that I particularly look forward to having every Christmas Eve is one that is traditional to my family’s Christmas Eve celebration and that dish is escargot (or snails). My uncle makes them every year for a few of us who enjoy them and they are actually really delicious.
They are stuffed them in their shells with butter, garlic, breadcrumbs, white wine, and Parmesan cheese and then baked. I have cooked and eaten escargot many times in the restaurant world, but it’s just never been the same as it is on Christmas Eve.
Whether you celebrate Christmas Eve with a bounty of seafood, or if you enjoy your own different family traditions the idea is to celebrate with people you care about. You still have the entire Christmas dinner and holiday to look forward to the following day, so enjoy the suspense and excitement.
We are less than two weeks away from Christmas Eve, so it’s perfectly fine to begin getting excited. I’ve personally been excited for over a week already and dreaming of all of the seafood and Christmas cookies that are coming. Get ready, get excited, and continue having a fantastic holiday season!
Mario Porreca of Belle Vernon is an entrepreneur, author, lifestyle strategist, and the host of Just Cook It Radio. He can be reached via his website at: www.MarioPorreca.com. Twitter: @MarioPorreca.