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Growing up in an Italian-American family, I was taught that you definitely
couldn’t eat meat on Christmas Eve. I’m sure that anyone of Italian descent can relate to
the statement that I have just made. It was considered a taboo, a “sin” according the
Catholic Church, or so my family believed. It wasn’t until I was in my 30’s that I was
made aware of the fact, by non-Italian Catholic friends, that this was never a church
law. This is what I now consider an Italian law!
Ever since I could
remember, my family, my relatives, and my Italian-American friends always had large
seafood dinners on Christmas Eve. Italians considered this night, the Holy Night, to be
“THE” holiday, more important than Christmas Day itself. As a child, I remember aunts,
uncles, and cousins gathering at my house on Christmas Eve, for we lived in Nanny and
Grandpa’s house. My grandmother was a fantastic cook and on this night, her specialty was
calamari with spaghetti. There was other fish, such as eels that my grandpa loved, but I
refused to eat those slimy, snake-looking things. Besides fish and pasta, there was salad
and vegetables. I can almost taste those stuffed artichokes that Nanny used to make. We
used to scrape off, with our teeth, the insides of the artichoke leaves and eat that
first, then eat the stuffing and the heart. Yum! I loved it. Naturally, there was Italian
bread, wine for the adults (well, sometimes we kids drank some red wine mixed in our
orange soda), and Italian pastries. How could we possibly celebrate such a joyous
occasion without cannoli? But, of course, there was no evidence of any kind of meat at
our holiday table.
When my Irish-American co-worker first informed me
of the “no-such-church-law” of not eating meat on Christmas Eve, I immediately told my
family. It was explained to me that eating seafood on Christmas Eve was an Italian custom
and somehow, over the years, it was assumed that meat was forbidden. My grandmother,
until her death six years ago, at age 93, could never be convinced that it was okay to
eat meat on Christmas Eve, and that it wasn’t a sin. She, along with many old-timers that
I know, also refused to accept this fact.
Nanny and Grandpa are no
longer with us on Christmas Eve, neither are the cousins, aunts and uncles. Some have
died, some have moved away, but mostly the families have grown and everyone celebrates
holidays with their immediate family. Our table now consists of my parents, my brother
and sister and their families, and, of course, myself. We still eat the calamari, shrimp,
mussels and various seafood dishes (no eels), the pasta, vegetables, salad, and desserts,
and enjoy our red or white wine; but there is never any meat on our table. It’s certainly
not because we believe it’s a sin to do so, it’s just such a traditional thing.
I happen to love the seafood tradition and the importance that is
placed on celebrating on Christmas Eve, for I, too, feel that this is the “Holy Night.”
The night Jesus was born. I’m also aware that not eating meat is not forbidden or sinful,
and if I ever do decide to eat meat on Christmas Eve, I won’t feel guilty, maybe a little
strange, though!
