The Fish Dinner

I am the fifth generation to do my mother's family Christmas Eve fish dinner. It started many moons ago with my great-great grandmother, Maria Paladino, in Italy, and then passed down to her children (she had like 10 children). The youngest of her children was my great-grandmother, Yolanda, who married Norwegian Tonnesson.

My great-grandmother cooked this dinner with her children as well and was at the helm of the kitchen. And then when her daughter, my Grandma Yolanda, had her own house and five children, great-grandma continued cooking the dinner at her house. All the uncles would come and help, clean the fish, great-grandma Tonnesson would boss everyone around. But you felt the great Christmas tradition and spirit.

Preparing the shrimp scampi

Making the anchovy sauce for the pasta

 When my grandmother and great-grandmother cooked the dinner, my mother and aunts and uncles would also end up helping make the dinner for Christmas eve. So growing up, watching this dinner being made, and knwing a little of the tradition, a few years ago, I wanted in! As you know by now, I am very big on traditions. And I would LOVE to carry out this tradition as well. SO I have always made sure the last maybe five years to be a part of making this fish dinner, and this year my eight year old cousin Samantha even joined in on helping!

Before great-grandma Tonnesson passed away, my Aunt Lisa sat down with her and wrote down all the recipes and my grandmother typed them up and gave it to all her children. Now I have my own copy as well! 
The Italian tradition is a seven fish dinner, but sometimes we do a little more sometimes. We did the seafood salad with calamri, then we cut up the shrimp and breaded them and all for shrimp scampi.The rest of the shrimp we coke for the shrimp cocktail. Aunt Lisa and I worked on the alege sauce, or anchovy sauce we put over pasta. On Christmas eve we have to add eight ounces of water. The bacala (codfish) needed to soak more so will be done the day of the dinner, and so will the clams.

But my most favorite and most time consuming dish are the muscles. The sauce we put over the muscles is DYNAMITE! And we make at least 30 pounds of it. And we also make a whole tray for us the night we cook the fish BEFORE Christmas eve! Always a tradition.

We steamed them, Samantha and I broke off the extra shell, we poured the sauce and cheese, and our mouths just watered. And of course a side of linguini, the spaghetti or for Christmas eve. True Italians! This dinner is made at MY mother's house now. So Grandma was over, my mother obviously, my Aunt Lisa, our long time family friend Sue always comes to hep with this dinner, Aunt Jeannette came when we finished LOL, and then a few cousins came for wine and dinner. It's always so nice to have everyone together to make this dinner and I know my great-great grandmother and great-grandmother must be thrilled!

There is going to be soooooooo much food! But if there is one thing I always know we'll have, it's our Christmas fish dinner. And I hope my own children will want to continue this tradition as well. 

Yours in service,

ANDREW TRENTO