Where to enjoy the Feast of the Seven Fishes in New Jersey
Growing up in a household where both parents were children of Italian immigrants, you would think we'd know about the feast of the seven fishes.
My mom and grandmothers never made such a thing. As a matter of fact, we really never heard of it until I was an adult and read about it in a magazine. I was in my late 20s, a new homeowner and wanted to impress my family with the "feast" on Christmas Eve.
We did some research and found a pretty good list of what went into a traditional feast of the seven fishes. There was eel and smelts and baccala. These were things that almost no one in the family liked, so I tried to Americanize the menu a bit and even included New England clam chowder to get to seven.
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The dinners were delicious, and everyone enjoyed them, but all of my efforts were in vain to rekindle a tradition that I thought our ancestors enjoyed in the Old Country.
One Christmas Eve almost 20 years ago, we had two different cousins visiting over the holidays. We couldn't wait to tell them we were preparing the feast of the seven fishes for Christmas Eve. Imagine my surprise when their response was, "Huh...the feast of the what?"
They informed me that our people were from the mountains, hours from the sea, 100 years ago. It may have been a thing in some coastal areas, but it's really an Italian-American thing, and it's wonderful.
If you don't want to go to the trouble of cooking all of that seafood, there is a place in Clifton that features the feast of the seven fishes every night up until Christmas. Spuntino offers a delicious menu that will satisfy your cravings for the feast.
The menu looks amazing and a lot more creative and fancier than Grandmom would have offered. Spuntino Wine Bar & Italian Tapas is located at 70 Kingsland Rd. in Clifton. Buon Appetito!
Must see Christmas attraction close by New Jersey
Gallery Credit: Dennis Malloy
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Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Dennis Malloy only.
