The number of fish served in the meal is significant in that it stands for number of sacraments in the Catholic Church. The day is spent as a religious retreat or fast from meat and dairy. This feast literally incorporates seven types of fish and seafood and in Campania, almost always includes baccalà (a salted cod fish) and baked eel, sardines, shrimp, octopus or squid, mussels and clams.
The fish and seafood can be prepared in many ways including baked with fresh lemon and olive oil (pesce al forno) or fried (fritto). It often is added into delicious pasta or risotto dishes such as risotto di mare (risotto with fresh seafood) or pasta con gamberi e zucchini (spaghetti with shrimp and fresh zucchini) or incorporated into a side dish or "contorno" such as Totani e patate (squid and potatoes).
Selection of house liqueurs in Ravello
As with any Italian meal, the meal is paired with wonderful apertivos - perhaps a glass of prosecco and Campari or Aperol, then complemented with lovely regional wines - either the family's house wine or one of the local regional wines such as Fiano di Avellino, Greco di Tufo or Taursai. No Napolitan festive meal is complete without a sip of grappa, caffe and sweets including zeppole and fresh fruit.
Mamma Agata's Zeppole
Upon completion of the meal, the family opens a few presents and then bundles up for a brisk walk to the local church to join their friends and family in a candle lit midnight mass before tucking in for the night.
On December 25th, Christmas Day, the children wake and if they have been good, Santa Claus may have left them gifts under the tree. Once again, fragrant smells permeate from the kitchen where the family will begin cooking the Christmas meal early in the day for a late afternoon feast to include meat and dairy plus the famous panettone (Christmas bread) and struffoli - fried honey fritters
Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas dinner are the most important meals of the year to Italians. To them, it would be nearly catastrophic to be denied these annual family gatherings. To prove this point, we've included an excerpt from Mamma Agata's cook book Simple and Genuine, entitled "A Christmas Story", as told by her daughter and my dear friend, Chiara Lima:
"One Christmas, my Papa went to northern Italy to establish a new restaurant with a business partner. Things did not go well, and the other man disappeared with Salvatore's half of the money, so Papa was forced to return to Ravello and immediately begin looking for work.
The timing could not be worse though for a young family, as it was Christmas, and sadly, our finances and Christmas dreams would be destroyed. As children, we did not know anything was wrong, since Mamma Agata never ever told us any of this was happening and she always kept a smile on her face. As any good mother would do, she pretended that everything was great, as usual. But sadly, her secret was that we would not have any presents under the tree, and even more importantly, there would be no Christmas feast to feed the family - an Italian tradition and an important part of our culture!
