 |
This year we attended the Traditional Latin Mass at
Our Lady of Peace Church in Brooklyn, New York |
Like many Duosiciliano Americans, my family still keeps the tradition of La Vigilia di Natale, the Southern Italian ritual of eating seafood and eschewing meat on Christmas Eve. We don’t do the so-called Festa dei sette pesci, or “Feast of the Seven Fishes,” but we do eat a variety of aquatic delicacies.
 |
| The beautifully decorated sanctuary |
Despite regular and varied claims to authenticity, I believe the “Seven Fish” custom is a relatively recent fabrication. According to my family’s matriarchs there were never a set number of dishes served, we simply ate what we could afford and what was fresh and available.
Today, we normally have shrimp, calamari, clams, mussels and scungilli (whelk), which all can be prepared in a variety of ways. Capitone fritto alla napoletana (fried eel) use to be the main course, but nowadays, since the passing of my grandparents, the dish has been replaced with aragosta (lobster), ricci di mare (sea urchin), seppia (cuttlefish), or baccalà (salt cod). This year, we enjoyed baccalà in umido (stewed codfish) and mini lobster tails.
Following the fish bonanza, we had three different types of meatless panzerotti, a delicious deep-fried crescent-shaped dough filled with onions and capers; sweet ricotta; and the classic mozzarella and tomato.
Next came fruit, roasted chestnuts, caffè and an assortment of delicious sweets, including homemade cartellate and struffoli, the quintessential Neapolitan Christmas dessert that will satisfy the most stubborn sweet tooth. There is no panettone in my house.
Between courses we played a few games of chess then attended Midnight Mass. Afterward, instead of going straight home, we took our customary passeggiata through Dyker Heights, Brooklyn, to admire the festive Christmas decorations. My family has been doing this for as long as I can remember, though originally it was in East New York, Brooklyn, where my maternal grand- and great-grandparents were from. |
| Insalata di mare |
 |
| Fritto misto di mare |
 |
| Spaghetti alle vongole |
 |
| Mini lobster tails |
 |
| Baccalà in umido with tomato, onion and olives |
 |
| Panzerotti |
 |
| White and red wines from Campania |
Christmas morning we went to Mass, exchanged presents, and visited family and friends until dinnertime. Sadly, this year I did not make the Mass at Dawn commemorating Santa Anastasia.
 |
| Santa really gets me; look what I found under the Christmas tree this year!: (L–R) Edgar Julius Jung, Right -Wing Enemy of the Nazis by Roshan Magub; The Sepent Coiled in Naples by Marius Kociejowski; Ernst Jünger: Between the Gods & the Titans by Alain de Benoist; The Failure of Technology by Friedrich Georg Jünger; The Significance of the German Revolution by Edgar Julius Jung; Early Days of World History by Oswald Spengler; The Philosophy of Marx by Giovanni Gentile; and Liberty: The Last Essays by Georges Bernanos |
 |
| Aglianico wine from Basilicata named in honor of King Manfred of Sicily and brandy named for the Gran Duque D'Alba Fernando Alvarez de Toledo y Pimentel |
No less extravagant than the Eve, Christmas dinner was a culinary tour de force with plenty of hot and cold antipasti, insalata, baked ziti and grilled steak. Fruit, dessert and caffè completed the meal. |
| Affettati e formaggi |
 |
| Prosciutto e melone |
 |
| Insalata di burrata e pomodori |
 |
| Arancini |
 |
| Peperoni grigliati e marinati |
 |
| Melanzane grigliati e marinati |
 |
| Focaccia Pugliese |
 |
| Polpette di ricotta, frittata di scarola, and bastoncini di mozzarella |
 |
| Ziti al forno |
 |
| Bistecca alla griglia with crocchè di patate Napoletani and friarielli |
 |
| Struffoli |
Not quite finished yet, on December 26, the second day of Christmas, we celebrate St. Stephen's Day (my saintly Confirmation namesake) with leftovers and homemade torrone, a sticky candy made from honey and nuts that dates back to Roman times. I like mine with a glass of Strega or Amaro.
 |
| Torrone |
 |
| Cartellate with fig vincotto |
As always, the ladies outdid themselves and treated us to another memorable Christmas. Buon Natale a tutti!~ Giovanni di Napoli, December 26th, Feast of Santo Stefano primo Martire
Amended for 2022
