How a Simple Fish Became a Holiday Staple

Baccala, a symbol of celebration.

In Italy, December is more than just a month - it’s a season of cherished traditions when Italians embrace the holidays with a unique mix of history, faith, food, and festivity. Our Roman correspondent, Victoria Cece, captures the season’s magic, which centers on feasts, family, and the history of a simple fish.

ITALY IN DECEMBER

No matter where we are in the world, December always sneaks up on us like a mouse in the movies, eager to eat the leftover crumbs of Santa’s cookies and milk. Here in Rome, the last month of the year can have many faces - an early Spring tease or a wet tropical island - but all remarkably beautiful. From the sun-soaked pine trees to the lights bouncing off the sampietrini (Roman cobblestones), there’s no shortage of magic in the air this time of year in Italy.

Let me tell you about December. For Italians, December 8th is like the Thanksgiving of the holiday season. Of course, advent technically starts on the first of December. But the 8th - La Festa dell’Immacolata or the Feast of the Immaculate Conception is when it is officially 100 percent acceptable to start blasting Christmas tunes and decorating everything in silver and gold (yes, Italians do love holiday decorations, Mariah Carey, and Babbo Natale (Santa)). December 8^th is a national holiday - the first day of the holiday season when everyone has off work and can get into the holiday spirit and maybe experience their first ski getaway. Italy is a country blessed with a spine of mountains from North to South, and the gorgeous Alps make up Italy’s crown and offer no shortage of winter escapes.

Religion, super ski slopes, and commercialism aside, we all know that the actual Italian December holiday decorations are the food and wine. I bet you are already thinking - the Feast of the Seven Fishes! Fancy Chiantis and legendary Barolos!

Well, not exactly.

Italian holiday foods - like the country - are pretty varied, although there are some things that align them. One is fish.

IT’S BACCALA, BABY

Have you ever noticed how much baccala (salted cod) is in Italy? Especially this time of year? In Rome and Napoli, there are no holidays without fried baccala. This tradition even traveled to America, becoming a symbol of Italian-American culture on The Sopranos. If you are from New York or New Jersey, you all know Bobby Baccala.

This is not by coincidence.

Eating fish on Christmas Eve or during the holidays naturally brings us back to the Church again. The concept of purifying the body by not eating any animal meat is as old as the Old Testament.

Still - the consumption of lots of fish isn't about religion. It was about survival.

People weren’t always eating grandiose plates of spaghetti alle vongole or baked branzino or celebrating the Feast of the Seven Fishes, which has murky roots and is considered an Italian-American holiday.

Since Roman times, cod has entered Italy thanks to trade with northern countries. Salting ensured it could travel well with the sailors, arriving safe and edible when they docked in Italy.

Salt was a currency. It’s the reason that Tuscans and Umbrians don’t salt their bread. But with baccala, it gets pretty interesting.

During the Renaissance, salted cod became a staple, not out of taste preference but because of political shifts. At the time, the Catholic Church began reinforcing fasting rules, restricting meat consumption on holy days as an act of faith and religious reform.

The result - the fish prices went up, and the common people were left with already limited options. So, coastal cities began to import more baccala - making it a staple of the times.

Returning to the 21st century, to an Italy where not everyone honors religious holidays - baccala (and fish) is still a staple. It remains a symbol of celebration - from a past of scarcity to a present of abundance, whether baccala mantecato cicchetti in Venice or fried baccala on a Roman street corner.

And it all goes down great with a glass of wine.

WINTER WHITE WINE

What’s that you say? No deep reds for the winter? Not always. When it comes to fish - Italians adore a good glass of white wine in the wintertime. With so many brilliant options from north to south, there’s not a single drop of boredom in finding wine pairings for your fish-filled feast.

Traveling to Venice, where bridges are illuminated in lights and canals look like midnight skies; locals indulge in friendly local white wines (an ombra, as the Venetians call a glass of wine). A crisp Soave with sizzling minerality or a more bodied Friulano make all the cicchetti (little tapas-style bites) go down easy.

Down in Rome, there’s no better treat after wandering the boutiques around Campo de’ Fiori than a fried piece of baccala, extra hot and greasy enough to get your fingers messy. After two bites, you’re already craving a good glass of Passerina - a refreshing, easygoing local wine from Lazio - from the low-key enoteca around the corner.

Yet, the greatest glass of wine comes on Christmas Day. After all the fish and a long day of eating and small talk with relatives we only see once a year, we escape to local watering holes - to see friends because they, too, are family.

Because no matter what you eat or celebrate, togetherness makes the holidays Italian.