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Why do Italians eat fish on Christmas Eve?
Question
#8701. Asked by Marie. (Dec 12 00 3:17 AM)
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Moleman
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12 kinds of fish/seafood for Christmas Eve dinner. The reason being, one seafood for each of Christ's Apostles as they were considered 'Fishers of Men.'
There is also a tradition of eating seven type of fish, 7 being the number associated with God (6 with the devil).
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McGruff

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The reason behind the use of fish, on the other hand, is simple: Christmas Eve is a vigilia di magro, in other words, a day of abstinence in which the Catholic Church prohibits the consumption of meat.
...a fish-based Christmas Eve dinner is not part of the Tuscan tradition - It's more of a southern thing, celebrated from Rome on down.
http://italianfood.about.com/od/menues/a/aa121698.htm
La vigilia is as far as I know a uniquely Southern Italian affair, a feast involving seven fish dishes. There's no specific menu to follow; each family has its own traditional dishes it brings to the table. In my family, there was always baccalĂ , sometimes two different preparations, a big bowl of shrimp and heaping portions of spaghetti all'aglio e olio, a small portion of which was made with alici, or anchovies.
http://hedonia.seantimberlake.com/hedonia/2006/12/feast_of_the_se.html
The Feast of the Seven Fishes is a traditional Southern Italian and Sicilian event. Christmas Eve, known as vigilia di magro, is a Catholic day of fasting; no meat is eaten. Toward evening a family will traditionally break the fast with a feast of seven fishes prior to midnight mass. In America today, Italian-American families continue to follow the tradition of the feast, with some families adding nine, eleven or even thirteen fishes. The seven is believed to represent the seven sacraments.
http://www.ehow.com/how_2141220_plan-italian-feast-seven-fishes.html
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