Why Do Italians Eat Fish On Christmas Eve

Picture this: it’s Christmas Eve in Italy. Snow dusts the rooftops, families are gathered, and the table groans under a mountain of seafood. But where’s the turkey? The ham? The roast beef? Gone. Instead, you’ll find eels, clams, and enough fried fish to make a cardiologist weep. Why? Because Italians have a centuries-old culinary conspiracy to avoid eating meat on December 24. Buckle up—this story involves a hungry saint, a pope with a loophole, and a lot of squid.

The Secret Is Older Than Your Nonna’s Recipe

The tradition is called La Vigilia—the Feast of the Seven Fishes. But wait, it’s not actually called that in Italy. That’s an Italian-American invention, like spaghetti and meatballs. In Italy, it’s just “Christmas Eve dinner,” and it’s all fish, all the time. The rule? No meat, no dairy, no eggs. Just the creatures that swim. Why? Because the Catholic Church declared it a “day of abstinence” back in the Middle Ages.

Abstinence meant giving up a luxury, and meat was a luxury. Fish was the peasant’s revenge: cheap, plentiful, and weirdly slimy. But here’s the punchline: the Church said “no warm-blooded animals” but didn’t say anything about animals that shiver in cold water. So Italians got creative. They looked at a codfish and thought, “This counts as fasting, right?” And it stuck.

Wait, Why Didn’t They Just Eat Nothing?

Good question, and the answer is hilarious. Medieval Italians were not about to skip a feast. They invented “fasting” that included a seven-course banquet. Think about it: you can’t eat beef, but you can eat five kinds of shellfish, fried eels, and baccalà (salted cod) that’s been soaking for three days. That’s not a sacrifice—that’s a seafood Olympics. The real reason? The Church taught that Jesus was born at midnight, so you waited for that hour to break the fast with real food. But humans being humans, they loaded up on fish beforehand to survive the wait.

And then there’s the eel. Yes, eel. Italians love capitone (female eel) because it’s fatty, smoky, and looks like a snake. Why eat snake on Jesus’ birthday? One legend says eels were the only food left in the Tiber River during a famine. Another joke says Italians just wanted to gross out their French neighbors. Either way, it’s a tradition that involves a creature that looks like it’s plotting your death. You haven’t lived until you’ve seen a nonna wrestle a live eel into a pan.

Why do we eat fish on Christmas Eve? - Foods Trend

The Surprising Star: Baccalà (Salted Cod)

Let’s talk about the MVP of Italian Christmas Eve: baccalà. This is codfish that’s been dried and salted so aggressively it could survive a nuclear winter. You have to soak it for 48 hours, changing the water seven times, or it tastes like you licked the Dead Sea. Why bother? Because in the 15th century, Venetian sailors discovered that cod from Norway could be preserved for months. It became the fast food of sailors—cheap, durable, and impossible to eat raw. Italians fell in love with this zombie fish and turned it into a Christmas tradition.

Fun fact: the number seven in “Feast of the Seven Fishes” is also a playful myth. Some families serve three (for the Trinity). Others serve thirteen (for Jesus and the apostles). But most just serve whatever they catch. If you ask a Sicilian grandmother, she’ll say, “Seven? I make seventeen. And you’ll eat all of them or die.” The only rule is: no meat, and no arguing with your mother.

Fish for Christmas Eve | Wandering Italy Blog

The Real Reason Is Also the Weirdest

Here’s the kicker: Italians eat fish on Christmas Eve because of a pope who hated parties. In the 6th century, Pope Gregory the Great decided that fasting should be stricter. He declared that the Advent season (the four weeks before Christmas) should be a meat-free zone. But then Christmas Eve rolled around, and people were starving. So they compromised: eat fish that day, but save the lamb for Christmas Day. Over centuries, this became a tradition so rigid that even today, Italian grocery stores run out of octopus by December 23.

And get this: the tradition is so strong that in Rome, you can buy “Christmas eel” at the market, live and wriggling. It’s like buying a live turkey, but slipperier and more likely to haunt your dreams. One Roman baker told me, “We do this because we love our families. And because eel fried in garlic is better than any turkey.” He’s not wrong.

What do Italians eat at Christmas?

So, Should You Try It?

Absolutely—but bring a sense of humor. If you’re invited to an Italian Christmas Eve dinner, expect to eat until your belt screams. You’ll start with antipasti (squid salad, anchovies, marinated eel). Then comes pasta with clams. Then fried shrimp. Then the baccalà. Then more fried fish. And just when you think it’s over, someone brings out a platter of smelt that look like tiny silver torpedoes. Eat them whole. Eyes and all. It’s a tradition, and complaining is a sign of weakness.

The best part? Italians don’t do this for religious guilt. They do it because it’s delicious, and because their grandparent’s grandparent did it. It’s a culinary handshake across centuries. Plus, as one nonna told me, “You can’t have a party without a little chaos. And chaos tastes better with garlic.” So next Christmas, skip the ham. Get some eel, soak your cod, and embrace the weird. You might just start a tradition that lasts a thousand years—or at least until you run out of olive oil.