The Christmas Eve seafood extravaganza has perhaps been most popularized by Italian-Americans, who have been celebrating “La Vigilia” for generations. Otherwise known as the “Feast of the Seven Fishes,” the meal ends a day of fasting and represents the tradition of abstinence from red meat until the actual feast of Christmas Day itself.
The menu has evolved over the years. Earlier generations served more modest dishes, such as fried smelts, salt cod fish salad with garlic and parsley (known as baccalà), pickled snail salad (scungilli), fried calamari, baked cod and linguini with minced clams. These days, it’s not unusual for families to add stuffed lobster tails, scallops and baked stuffed shrimp to the menu.
Regardless of your menu, we’d like to offer some suggestions for you to enjoy a feast with local and sustainable seafood species. All of us at Snapchef are committed to the environment, our local fishermen and use of fresh sustainable New England seafood species. We actively support and promote the city of Gloucester – the oldest fishing port in the nation – and the work of The Gloucester Fishermen’s Wives Association (GFWA).
When planning your combination of seafood dishes, here are a variety of local seafood species that are also sustainable:
- Hake
- Pollock
- Haddock
- Redfish
- Butterfish
- Blue Mussels
- Local Black Sea Bass
- Blue Fish
- And, yes – if you’ve never considered it, local seaweed
To get your creative juices flowing, here’s a Snapchef original recipe “Gloucester Fresh Fish Cakes with Caper Dill Aioli” using Hake or Pollock.
Learn more about responsible and sustainable seafood, and eat local – and eat fresh.
Join Snapchef and our Gloucester Fresh partners at the New England Seafood Expo in Boston on March 11-13, 2018.
