'La Vigilia' is alive and well in the New Orleans area

By Christine Bordelon
Clarion Herald

Whether it’s called the “Feast of the Seven Fishes” or “La Vigilia,” Christmas Eve dinner is a family-oriented, sacred and meatless meal to countless people of Italian or Sicilian descent.

Jo-Ann Testa, president of the local Italian-American women’s club The Elenians, has enjoyed many Christmas Eve meatless feasts at the home of her sister Linda Testa and her brother-in-law Angelo Tartaglia in Vicenza northern Italy. The Testas, whose father was Italian and mother Sicilian, had Italian-born Tartaglia explain the feast. 

“In the Catholic or even Christian religion, the custom is to fast the day before the festivity,” Tartaglia said. “We still preserve the Christmas dinner tradition, and no one belonging to the Catholic religion eats meat in Italy on Christmas Eve. Everyone is coming from all over Italy to be together for this special dinner.”

Tartaglia said each region in Italy celebrates differently and doesn’t necessarily serve seven different fish. While he eats fish, those in southern Italy eat eel because it is plentiful there and, because it looks like a snake – and in the Catholic faith the snake is evil – by killing and eating eel, Catholics are fighting evil. He believes when the custom arrived in America, the fish-only tradition changed to add other available seafood. He surmises that the number of fish – seven – probably derives from seven being a spiritual number in the Christian faith.

“In Italy, this night is still a very … mystical one,” he said, tracing it to ancient Babylon or Egypt and the winter solstice on Dec. 21 that later coincided with Christian belief that Jesus was born around this same date. He said since solstice’s definition being rebirth of the light, it correlates with Christianity interpreting Jesus as “light” for humanity.

What’s said about feast
Well-known Sicilian-American Sandra Scalise Juneau of St. Tammany said her New Orleans family also abstained from meat on “La Vigilia” (the Vigil before Christmas). After attending midnight Mass, her family would go to her grandparents’ house near St. John the Baptist Church in New Orleans and share a breakfast feast. She believes the Feast of 7 Fishes is not really a Sicilian tradition, but something that was big among Italians in Brooklyn, New York. 

Peter Battaglia on the Italians Recipe Exchange on Facebook corroborated that the feast seems to have originated from the Catholic tradition of not eating meat on Christmas Eve – much like during Lent on Fridays. Codfish, called baccala in Italy, is a feast staple, he wrote. His family also calls the feast,  “La Vigilia.” 

 “What is more Italian American than the big seafood feast on Christmas Eve?” Battaglia said. “Regardless of where your family in Italy (or Sicily) comes from, Christmas Eve is almost always a meatless meal with one, two or whatever number of seafood dishes.”

He offered a family-favorite recipe “Baked Clams Oreganata.” The Battaglias use opened, little neck clams lightly topped with a mix of toasted breadcrumbs, finely minced garlic, fresh minced parsley, a pinch of oregano, lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil and peperoncino (Italian red chile flakes or finely diced fresh peppers). The clams are baked at 375 degrees until the bread crumbs start to turn golden (about 12 minutes). He recommends serving with plenty of fresh lemon.

Local chef has Italian connection
Even though I’m of Sicilian descent on my mother’s side, I was unfamiliar with the Feast of the Seven Fishes, so I decided to partake in Gianna Restaurant’s feast in December. 

Chef Jared Heider’s maternal side of the family is Sicilian, members who still live there and run a family olive orchard from which he receives 55 gallons of olive oil annually to use in the restaurant. 

Heider said he was introduced to the Feast of Seven Fishes on a 2011 Sicilian visit.

“It’s a very Roman Catholic tradition of feasting and abstaining from meat at the same time,” he said. 

When he joined the Link group of restaurants, he learned this family-style feast had been popular at Gianna before COVID and revived it there as well as at his home in 2021.

His take on the feast has a variety of fresh seafood, not just fish. In 2022, he served approximately 100 diners baccala crustini with olive oil, lemon and garlic; stuffed squid with smoked ‘nduja, lemon and bread crumbs; shrimp spiedini on a stick with a calabrian chili vinaigrette; squid ink spaghetti with bottarga, butter and lemon; fruitti di mare fettuccine with squid, mussels, clams, olives and celery; grilled scallops with turnip puree and Meyer lemon; Swordfish Involtini with tomato fumet, capers and olives and fired-roasted broccoli with bagna cauda and Pecorino Romano cheese. It ended with olive oil cake with a blood orange glaze.

“It’s the one that I was most proud of,” he said. “I felt very accomplished by the end of this one.”

Heider believes baccala is significant because, being preserved in salt, it has a longer shelf life. 

While most diners weren’t of Italian descent, they bond as they mingle while sharing food and often become friends. Diners Christina Macdonnell and Damon Reynolds from Massachusetts and Meghan Connors from Wisconsin were among them. 

Macdonnell and Reynolds were very familiar with the Feast of the Seven Fishes. Reynolds said he enjoyed the feast in Boston at Bar Mezzana when he went home during the holidays to visit friends and family.

“It was just really fun,” Reynolds said. “All the seafood was great. They served it family-style like at Gianna.” 

Connors, a first-grade teacher at Stuart Hall in New Orleans, worked the feast into a lesson on worldwide traditions with her students at Christmastime. 

Macdonnell’s great aunt Rose Vigliotti and grandmother Ann Chiusana cooked it at her Aunt Rosie’s house in Worchester, Massachusetts. Her mother would often say going to Aunt Rosie’s on Christmas Eve was her favorite thing to do.

“She would have everyone over, and they would make this huge meal for everyone,” Macdonnell said. 

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Baccala Crostini
1   pound salt cod
1 baguette
1 lemon
3 cloves garlic, chopped
¼ cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon black pepper 
Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
chopped parsley

Directions
Rinse salt cod and soak in water for at least 24 hours and up to three days. Change water every 12-24 hours.

Cut cod into several pieces, place in saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer and let cook until fish begins to flake (20-30 minutes). Remove from water and set aside to cool.
In a food processor, add garlic and fish and pulse to break down. Add juice and zest from 1 lemon, black pepper and heavy cream. Pulse to combine.; emulsify with EVOO.

Slice baguette into ¼-inch thick discs and arrange on baking sheet. Drizzle with EVOO and put back in 375-degree oven until golden brown. Set aside to cool. Spread 1 tablespoon of baccala on each crostini. Garnish with a drizzle of EVOO and chopped parsley. 

Chef Jared Heider
Gianna Restaurant,
New Orleans

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Capesante (Scallops) 

12 fresh scallops
unseasoned bread crumbs
1 clove garlic, 1 sprig parsley
1 lemon (squeeze juice)
½ stick butter
Sprinkle of Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Directions 
Wash scallops in shells under cold water to eliminate sand. Do not detach scallops from shell. Drain in a colander sideways and place in a baking pan.  

Squeeze lemon and pour a few drops over scallops in their shells. Mix bread crumbs, one finely chopped garlic clove, parsley and cheese. Add olive oil to moisten. Drop bits of this mixture on each scallop. Add a thin pat of butter on each. Bake in a 350-degree oven for 15-20 minutes until bread crumbs are browned. Salt and pepper to taste, if preferred. Warm bread at the table is a nice accompaniment.
 –  From the kitchen of Linda Testa and Angelo Tartaglia, Vicenza northern Italy

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Grilled Shrimp Spiedini 

2 pounds Gulf shrimp
3 lemons 
1 shallot 
1 anchovy filet 
3 Calabrian chilies
black pepper
sea salt
Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) 
chopped parsley
Wooden skewers

Directions 
Clean shrimp, leaving tails attached. Skewer 6 to 8 shrimp per skewer (depending on size) and set aside.

In a blender, add diced shallot, juice and zest of 2 lemons, anchovy, salt, pepper and Calabrian chilies with their oil. Pulse to blend. Emulsify with EVOO. 

Season with salt, pepper and EVOO to taste. Grill until done (1-2 minutes per side).

To serve: Arrange skewers on a platter and drizzle sauce over shrimp. Garnish each platter with a lemon half and parsley