On the night before Christmas, an array of seafood begins appearing on some dinner tables as a symbolic way to ring in the sacred holiday. The tradition of abstaining from meat and eating fish before a holiday began centuries ago as a Roman Catholic practice in many parts of Italy, where the type and number of fish and the preparation vary by region.

However, the specifically named Feast of the Seven Fishes is an Italian-American tradition begun by Italian immigrants who left their mother country seeking jobs and prosperity in the U.S., according to culinary historians and chefs. Very often on the bountiful menu are the traditional cod (baccala), whether fresh or rehydrated salted and dried cod; smelts; sardines; shrimp; octopus; clams; mussels, or others.