the side dish
feast of the 7 fishes, weird viral snacks, and recent meals
Welcome back to The Side Dish!!! We’re so close to the holidays I can literally taste it. Praying everyone hangs in there for the next couple days of work before we get to lay on the couch for 5-7 business days straight. #balance!
Today we’re chatting about the lore behind the feast of the seven fishes (+ menu planning inspo), the latest viral snack, and yummy things I think you should make.
The Feast of the Seven Fishes 🐟
A Christmas Eve classic! I’m going to force a quick history lesson down your throat, then we’ll talk the good stuff— menu planning.
Fish History 👩🏫
The Feast of the Seven Fishes is an Italian-America tradition. All the good Catholics (kiiiiiiidding) refrained from meat on Christmas Eve as a vigil before Christmas Day, so seafood became the go-to alternative. They tied each seafood dish to a specific religious meanings, like the sacraments or the hills of Rome, or simply aimed to celebrate the abundance of the sea. Many Italians immigrated to the U.S. from the coastal regions like Naples, Sicily, and Calabria, so you’ll frequently see fishies native to those regions on the menu.
Why 7 fish you ask? Technically speaking, you can make however many fishes you please, but the Catholics just like the number seven— 7 sacraments, 7 deadly sins, and the 7 days of creation. But no Catholic guilt here if you vary the number. 🙏
The Fish List 📝
There’s no official list, but you might get a different answer from an opinionated Italian nonna. There’s traditional staples, but have fun with any of the following:
The Staples
Salted cod, Squid, Shrimp, Clams, Mussels
The Extras
Smelts, Anchovies, Scungilli (gotta be so real, I have no clue what that is), Eel
The Crustaceans & Mollusks
Crab, Lobster, Octopus, Scallops, Oysters
The Menus 🍽️
If you want to be as traditional as possible, build your menu with the following principles:
Shared and communal at the table
A fried calamari here, a mussel or clam there, this is family style dining at its finest
Preserved, fried, or stewed dishes
Cured, dried, fried, simmered, or boiled
Historically accessible
Stick to the list above
Rooted in Italian coastal cooking
Cook it here how they cook it there
All sample menus link out to recipes to get your juices flowing:
Feast of the Seven Fishes: Traditional Version 🙇♀️
Feast of the Seven Fishes: Modern-ish Version 💁♀️
Feast of the Seven Fishes: Appetizer Version 🤌
Feast of the Seven Fishes: Work Smarter Not Harder Version 🧐
Insert the Christmas Eve tradition I grew up on: Cioppino. This classic fish stew is (1) deliciously cozy for the night before Christmas and (2) much easier than preparing 7 different fish dishes. Consider this your cheat code to creating a beautifully delicious feast in a quarter of the time.
My dad’s dad wrote a cookbook-let (so yeah you could say this whole cooking thing is in my blood) and I’d love to share it with you. He built this stew with 5 fishes, but you could very well add a couple mussels and use 2 different kinds of white fish to easily get to 7.
Extra Nibbles For The Table 🫒
A feast isn’t complete until there are snickie snacks on the table. Supplement your fish with the following:
The Pickled Stuff: Marinated olives and pickled vegetables
The Cheesy Stuff: Chunked parm, pecorino, and fresh mozz
The Carb-y Stuff: Focaccia and bread sticks
The Veggie Stuff: Roasted peppers, cherry tomatoes, and simple green salad
The Drinks 🍷
Like every great story, there should be a beginning, middle, and end. Consider these sips to pair with your feast:
Aperitivo: Aperol or Campari Spritz, Prosecco, Vermouth on the rocks
Main: Italian White Wine like Vermentino, Falanghina, Greco di Tufo, or Pinot Grigio
Digestivo: Limoncello or Amaro (or peppermint tea if you’re like me and will eat too much and get a tummy ache)
The Feast of the Seven Fishes quickly goes from food for food’s sake, to food for tradition’s sake. I get a little weepy flipping through the pages of my dad’s dad’s cookbook-let published in 1975 and recount the first time I tasted my dad’s Cioppino and consider when I might take on the challenge to make it myself. Food is tradition. This meal is tradition. So go ahead and give everyone a fish, get stressed out in the kitchen, maybe yell at each other over stove space, then sit and enjoy your feast, together.
Why Are We Making A Potato and Cheese Viral 😶🌫️
A teacher on TikTok is showing off the insane bunny rabbit-coded meals she brings to work (this one actually scares me) and people are losing their minds over this snack. What is it? A hunk of cheese shoved into a baked sweet potato.
Fear not trusted reader, I tried it. And said from the bottom of my heart, what is the hullaballoo!? It tastes exactly how you’d imagine it. It’s not like we’ve just uncovered the next weird-but-actually-delicious-pairing like pickles and ice cream or OREOs and orange juice.
I felt bamboozled by this food trend— I still ride at dawn for Emily Mariko’s salmon bowls and even hold 2020’s baked feta pasta in my heart. I’m losing faith in my TikTok girlies that are elevating these viral snackies. I’ll try anything, but this one left me wanting more. Try it for yourself and let me know your thoughts. 🤔
Things I Ate (& Made) Recently
10 Minute Chili Peanut Noodles: Added soft boiled eggs for a little extra ‘tein.
Dry As Hell Roasted Chicken: It might look pretty but it was dryer than the Sahara— reminder that progress isn’t linear.
Soupy Chicken & Rice With Bok Choy: Perfect winter meal.
Savory Scones: They were perfect in every way.
Kimchi Tofu Bowls: Also very good with boneless, skinless chicken thighs instead of tofu.
Maple Pecan Cinnamon Rolls: From the lovely @redcurrantbakery.
Things I Will Be Making In The Near Future
Literally 7 fishes, that’s all I can think about rn
the 7 fishes vibe I’m trying to capture this year:
©️ 2025 Jenna D’Ambrosio
Looking forward to the second annual 7 fishes Christmas Eve dinner!