Feast of the Seven Fishes Blog | Italian Christmas, Italian Food, Cooking, Recipes and Traditions

San Giovanni in Fiore

Like many other Italian-American families living in North-Central West Virginia, mine emigrated from the Calabrian town of San Giovanni in Fiore.  Fortunately, very strong ties exist between the regions.  In fact, upon the observance of the 100th anniversary of the Monongah mine disaster, officials from San Giovanni in Fiore traveled to America to participate in the various ceremonies.  I stumbled across this site,created by a native of San Giovanni named Francesco Saverio Alessio. Well worth visiting if one would like to learn a little more about this rugged mountain town that was the source of so many Italian immigrants. Plus, there's some lovely poetry about San Giovanni written by another native, Rina Ferrarelli.  You can also visit this site for a more traditional informational site.

Italians vs. Europeans

Here's a very funny cartoon that I once watched when I was studying Italian in college. It's by Bruno Bozzetto, a famous cartoon animator from Milan. This video, as Bruno puts it, is "dedicated to those who believe that Italians behave the same as all other Europeans." Enjoy!

-Mike

Carnevale di Venezia - Largest Carnevale in Italy

Carnevale di Venezia, the Carnevale to end all Carnival's, is touted as the largest Carnival's in Italy.  Yahoo calls it "beauty, joy and sensuality before the introspective Lenten season."

Most importantly are the masks, giving the air a scent of mystery.  While the significance of the mask is to impersonate Italian folklore characters, many love the surreal nature of disappearing into the mist.

"Carnevale is during Italy's winter. 'It's cooler outside, and because of all the canals, a mist hangs in the air. People in fantastical attire appear and fade into the fog. It's surreal,' says Guido D'Ugo, president of Ciao Italy Travel, " featured in the same Yahoo article.

In praise of pomodori

Giorgio Locatelli pays tribute to the greatest fruit known to mankind.  He goes paves tale with history, facts, and a few recipes.  It's a great read, almost making me wish that instead of a heart I had a tomato.  One of my personal favorite ways to eat a Pomodori is fresh of the vine-rinsed of course-with a little salt.

Viva la Italia!
Mario M.

Feast of the Seven Fishes Festival Update!

Feast of the Seven Fishes Festival Billboard
Originally uploaded by Feast of the Seven Fishes.

I was back in the old hometown the other day and was psyched to see a billboard announcing the Feast of the Seven Fishes Festival that's happening Dec. 9th in Fairmont, WV. They've done a pretty cool campaign and it's great to see the graphics from the book so prominently displayed. I'm looking forward to it - though this will be my first time teaching at a cooking school which should be pretty - um - interesting.

There's going to be some great food at the thing and equally good music and some shopping opportunities. And of course, the school. If anyone wants to learn more about it they can call Vera Sansalone at Main Street Fairmont at 304.366.0468

Buon Natale,
Robert Tinnell

Americans Having Thanksgiving Italian Style!

Martha Miller shares her exciting, delicious, and memorable tale about her journey to replicate the Thanksgiving holiday while staying in Italy.  As we all know, there is no Thanksgiving in Italy, which would only make this feat extremely labor intensive.  Martha completes the task and creates a longlasting memory that will never be replaced.

Seeing as though Italy houses none of the preprocessed frozen foods of America, it's easy to understand her delight in finding the food to be that much more "delizioso!"  One of these days I hope to replicate this feat, maybe stateside though.  It'd be exciting and exuberating to create a feast from scratch with only the freshest of ingredients.  My apologies to the major grocery chains of America if this becomes a success and national tradition.

Viva la Italia!
Mario M.

what an Italian dinner used to be like

Growing up dinner was a thing to look forward too.  Dinner used to be a big deal, where immediate and extended families would gather and not just eat, but EAT!  It used to be a place where you could get a meal, a lesson, advice, and always lots of memories.  Nowadays we're lucky to get a conversation in between shoving french fries in our face and commercial breaks. 

Here's the course list of a traditional Italian dinner:

1. L'antipasto - hot and cold appetizers
2. Il primo ("First Course"), usually consists of a hot dish like pasta, risotto, gnocchi, polenta or soup. There are usually abundant vegetarian options.
3. Il secondo ("Second Course"), the main dish, usually fish or meat (Pasta is never the main course in a traditional menu). Traditionally veal is the most commonly used meat, at least in the north, though beef has become more popular since World War II and wild game is very popular, particularly in Tuscany.
4. Il contorno ("Side Dish") may consist of a salad or vegetables. A traditional menu features salad after the main course.
5. Il dolce ("Dessert")
6. Il caffè ("Coffee") (espresso)
7. Liquors/liqueurs (grappa, amaro, limoncello) sometimes referred to as ammazzacaffè ("Coffee killer")

-Mario M.