Fried smelts, calamari and other types of seafood have been incorporated into the Christmas Eve dinner over the years.

The custom of celebrating with a simple fish such as baccalà reflects customs in what were historically impoverished regions of Southern Italy, as well as seasonal factors. A well-known dish is baccalà (salted cod fish). In some Italian-American families, there is no count of the number of fish dishes. 'Seven fishes' as a fixed concept or name is unknown in Italy. The meal includes seven or more fishes that are considered traditional. The first known mention is in The Philadelphia Inquirer in 1983. It is unclear when or where the term 'Feast of the Seven Fishes' was popularized. As no meat or animal fat could be used on such days, observant Catholics would instead eat fish (typically fried in oil). The long tradition of eating seafood on Christmas Eve dates from the Roman Catholic tradition of abstaining from eating meat on the eve of a feast day. This celebration commemorates the wait, the Vigilia di Natale, for the midnight birth of the baby Jesus. The tradition comes from Southern Italy, where it is known as The Vigil ( La Vigilia). The Feast of the Seven Fishes typically consists of seven different seafood dishes. Christmas Eve is a vigil or fasting day, and the abundance of seafood reflects the observance of abstinence from meat until the feast of Christmas Day itself. It is not a 'feast' in the sense of 'holiday', but rather a grand meal. The Feast of the Seven Fishes ( Italian: Festa dei sette pesci) is an Italian-American celebration of Christmas Eve with dishes of fish and other seafood.

For the film, see Feast of the Seven Fishes (film). This article is about the Italian-American celebration.

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