A Feast of the Seven Fishes

A SHORT HISTORY

The Feast of the Seven Fishes goes back to the 19th century in Italy. According to the Food Network (https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/articles/feast-of-the-seven-fishes), it was a time of political unrest and severe poverty. Many Italian Catholics immigrated to the U.S. bringing the tradition with them. Abstaining from eating meat on certain Holy Days was, and for many still is, a Catholic doctrine that is strictly adhered to. Fish was cheap in Italy in the 19th century, it was Christmas Eve, so families gathered to prepare and dine on one of the most plentiful cuisines in their region, seafood.

WHY SEVEN?

The number seven plays a significant role in the Christian biblical text. God rested on the 7th day, the Sabbath, after having created all that is. Many believe that the seven-day week (with the 7th day for rest) is God's perfect plan for how people should work. The book of Daniel speaks of 70 weeks or 490 years. Seven words were said by Jesus while he hung on the cross. Seven churches of Asia Minor are mentioned in the Book of Revelation. Seven has traditionally been thought of as the perfect number, a sacred number, so seven different kinds of fish make sense.

WHAT KINDS OF FISH?

While the Book of Leviticus makes it clear that shellfish are considered "unclean" and cannot be eaten by God's people, Catholics, and Protestants have assigned this restriction to a time before Christ.

Matthew 15:11 records Jesus saying that it is not what goes into a person's mouth that defiles him, but what comes out of the mouth. This was in response to the Pharisees hammering Jesus' disciples for not washing their hands in the ceremonial fashion before they ate.

In Acts 10:9-33, Peter has a vision. In the vision "all kinds" of unclean animals are set before him and he is told to kill and eat. Peter hears a voice in verse 15 say to him, "What God has made clean, do not call common". Issue settled.

The word "fish" in the sense of The Seven Fishes refers to any fresh seafood, including shellfish. However, it is traditional to include at least one "fish" fish dish!

A FEAST OF SEVEN FISHES

My family of origin would have loved fish for dinner anytime. I was raised not far from the Chesapeake Bay and anything we could catch from the water was edible to us. My current family of eclectic palates, which includes two supertasters, have poured over the myriad of recipes for what will be an awesome Feast of Seven Fishes for Christmas Eve. It will be a change from our traditional fare, but I think it will still be a wonderful time to gather and fellowship.

Once I know all the details, which will be after Christmas Eve, I will update this post and share them with all who care to read this reflection.

WHAT DOES IT COST?

At the beginning of this reflection, I said that fish was inexpensive in the 19th century. Not so today. Let's do a price comparison between then and now using these seven fishes, 5 oz. per person, four people (cost of 20 oz. of each fish; 1 2023 dollar was worth $.04 in 1850):

$9.00 for the Feast sounds good, in 1850. However, with an average daily income of $4.00/day, it would take approximately half of someone's weekly salary to host such a meal. By 2023 economic standards, using $38/hour as an average salary, a single day's salary can handle the cost.

Fish must have been more like a staple in 1850 than a luxury item. Regardless of the monetary cost, tradition has a way of making us go to extraordinary lengths to carry it forward. In many respects, that's a good thing.