Every Christmas Eve, my family serves the
traditional Italian dinner most commonly referred to as “the seven fishes.” It
consists of seven fishes, hence the name, but the most common fishes used are
anchovies, cod, shrimp, squid (calamari), and tuna. The remaining seven are
interchangeable. My family has experience serving this meal as far back as we
can trace. As we know it, my great grandma brought with her these magnificent
recipes from Sicily and shared them with her family and my grandparents. Now,
it is my parents who serve this meal for us all and very soon, it will be my
turn to host. This is my absolute favorite meal of the year and I am very proud
to admit it.
This
dinner is created in several steps, starting with gathering all the
ingredients, to making a mess in the kitchen, and then culminating on the
dining room table for everyone to enjoy. While I love eating the finished
product, my favorite part of the dinner is the tedious preparation process.
Christmas
Eve morning, we make the annual drive to the overly crowded strip district to
buy an obscene amount of fresh fish for my family to devour only hours later.
We
have several dishes that appear on the table year after year. The first dish is
simple but also one of my favorites: filets of raw sushi grade tuna seared to
perfection. Next is my favorite every year: fresh calamari topped with chopped
parsley, salt, and pepper and then paired with a garlic lemon aioli. Another
dish that appears on the menu is banga calda, which in its simplest form is
ground anchovies minced with garlic cloves, olive oil, and the perfect amount
of salt and pepper. This dish receives the most controversy every year because
everyone believes their recipe is the best (If you ask me, I would tell you
they all taste the same to me). Then a simple dish that my mom serves to
perfection is her shrimp cocktail that is accompanied by her homemade cocktail
sauce; it is the perfect combination of sweet and tangy. My least favorite dish
that appears on the menu every year is the baccala, which is dried and salted
cod tossed in marinara sauce and occasionally mixed with slices of andouille
sausage. Just because it is my least favorite dish on the menu doesn't mean I
don't like it, I still eat it every year. The two remaining fish are what adds
an element of surprise to each year's dinner. These fish change year to year
and after so many years of serving this meal, it would seem easy to run out of
new recipes but to my own amazement, we are still creating new ones every year.
By the end of the night, there won’t be a single person who doesn’t appreciate
the quality and the taste of the food.
While
the preparation and the quality of the dishes are exceptional, this is not why
this night stands out to me. Christmas Eve is my favorite night of the year and
getting to share it with my closest family and friends makes it that much
better.
Our loud and rambunctious
Christmas Eve dinners are like no other and I don't want to say goodbye to
these nights any time soon and as long as food remains the focal point of my
family's Holidays, I don't see that happening. The presence of food is very powerful
and something that should not go overlooked. Without it, there wouldn't be any
recipes for my family to share and no bragging to do over who can cook each
meal better, but, thanks to a mom and a family with an incredible taste, it is
not like any other night. Instead, it is my favorite night of the year.
When I was younger, the allure of
"Christmas Eve" entailed a magical night followed by an even more
magical morning, but now, hearing the night mentioned calms me. I still glow
with excitement as I await the big day, but I also think about our "seven
fishes" dinner, my family, and my friends and I realize that this night is
truly something special. It seems every year I hear new and even more
unbelievable stories about my parents and grandparents and each year seems to
top the last. As a result of the experience my family has created through
generations of trial and error, I never want to experience a Christmas anywhere
but home, with the company of my closest friends and family.
Solid job! Your concluding paragraph is much improved, and the last sentence wraps up your essay nicely.
ReplyDeleteThere is still room for improvement though; for example, the first sentence of your sixth paragraph is a bit long; you could break the sentence up into smaller sentences, or use more punctuation. The sentence following that one also sounds somewhat vague; you could delete it, and replace the "it" in the sentence after that with "the presence of food." Keep an eye out for punctuation and sentence length in future writing assignments!
Grade: Check