Category — Holidays

Nothing says Noel like a great, big glazed ham — unless you’re Italian. Many Italians, especially in the south, usher in the holiday with a kind of fast anchored to the country’s Catholic heritage. The Feast of the Seven Fishes dates back to the fifth or sixth century and takes place on Christmas Eve. While some families offer multiple courses of fish — think raw oysters, followed by smoked sardines, roasted monkfish, scampi and on and on and on — busier families practice the express version, cramming seven or more fish into a cioppino or chowder (okay, but probably not Nemo. I just liked the photo.)

So why seven? For the seven sacraments, of course. Or the seven sins — or virtues. Or for the seven days God used to create the earth. Or the seven days it took Mary and Joseph to reach Bethlehem. Or…you get the picture. In a story I did a couple of years ago, I even found that some (very hungry!) families stretch the metaphor to serve nine fish (the Holy Trinity times three), 11 (the 12 apostles minus Judas), or 13 (the apostles plus Jesus). Each family has its favorites, which can range from humble smelts and baccala to lobster tail and even caviar (yes, the eggs count as fish — it’s a Catholic tradition after all.)

If you can’t get yourself invited to someone’s house for this fabulous feast, check local Italian or seafood restaurants. In Washington, DC, the sustainable seafood restaurant Hook is offering a trio of crudo, followed by smoked mussel agnolotti, langostine with chestnut risotto, John Dory with calamari in a tomato confit, and yellowfin tuna prepared with sunchokes, pancetta, hazelnuts and figs. That’s eight fishes. Because eight is enough?

Nobody loves turkey sandwiches more than me. Big thick swipe of mayo across really good crusty bread…slightly warm….crunchy salt….yum. But chances are you’ve got more turkey than bread left over today. Here’s a recipe from my Sittau (grandmother) for turkey stew. I never asked her about this, but looking at it, I’m pretty sure she lifted it from a lamb recipe that involves braising a leg of lamb and smothering it in peas and tomato. Serve this stew very hot with lots of saffron-infused rice, cooked with lots and lots of rendered butter….The recipes for both of these dishes are in my uncle’s cookbook, A Taste of Syria.

Alice Kayal’s Turkey Stew

Total Time: 30 minutes

Active time: 5 minutes

Serves: 4

1 (14.5 oz) can crushed tomatoes

1 cup chicken stock

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 cups cubed, cooked turkey

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1 package (16 oz) frozen green peas

1 tablespoon butter

Combine tomatoes, stock and lemon juice in a heavy-bottomed pot. Mix well. Cover and simmer gently for 20 minutes. Add the turkey, salt and allspice. Heat through, then add the peas and butter and return to a simmer.

Serve over rice.

photo from Holiday Eats

You know, I love Thanksgiving for a lot of reasons. Yes, I get together with my family. Yes, we eat good food. But honestly, I also see it as a time to just get sappy about the Melting Pot. I hope you won’t think it’s a cop-out, but I’d really like to share two stories that I feel capture the true spirit of the holiday: the first is one I just did for the Associated Press about the ways famous ethnic Americans celebrate Thanksgiving (Michael Psilakis — such a cutie, Floyd Cardoz, Marcela Valladolid, etc) and the other is one I did for The New York Times about the way we celebrate Thanksgiving in Hawaii, which was my home for seven years. Here they are. Hope you enjoy.