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" Italians know how to eat. Particularly during Christmastime, those meals become bigger and better. On Christmas Eve, or La Vigilia, Southern Italians prepare a massive multicourse banquet known as the Feast of the Seven Fishes. Though it is a tradition most popular in the South, it&amp;#039;s common all around Italy to mangia on seafood for the Christmas holiday. We asked the foremost authority on Italian cuisine, Lidia Bastianich, to share her tips on how to prepare this buonissimo feast. 1. Stick to Odd Numbers If you want to do as the Italians do, seven or thirteen dishes are traditional. &amp;quot;Odd numbers bring luck in the Christian faith: the seven sacraments and thirteen apostles,&amp;quot; explains Bastianich. &amp;quot;It doesn&amp;#039;t bring blessings if you deviate from those two numbers, but if you do want to do a smaller meal, three could be acceptable, but I would not advise that.&amp;quot; 2. Invite the Masses A festive feast calls for a packed house of hungry friends and family. The Bastianiches host a clan of anywhere from 25 to 30 people representing four generations. Says Bastianich, &amp;quot;Five grandchildren run around, with the youngest at only five years old, and my mother, who is 86.&amp;quot; 3. Get Expert Help &amp;quot;Get the fishmonger to clean your fish for you,&amp;quot; recommends Bastianich. Preparing a seven-course meal for a large group can be daunting, so have the monger clean the fish and seafood, and package it separately. You&amp;#039;ll save yourself extra hours of prep time. 4. Start Early &amp;quot;Begin three days in advance,&amp;quot; says Bastianich. She recommends starting with the items that will keep well, like marinade of sardines and Baccala Mantecato, a whipped salt cod spread. Bastianich also suggests, &amp;quot;On the second day clean the vegetables and on the final day pull it all together.&amp;quot; 5. Make It Family Style &amp;quot;The best way, and the only, way [to serve the meal] is family-style,&amp;quot; advises Bastianich. &amp;quot;I recommend that all of the salads, baccala, and sardines be served as appetizers on a stand-up table, where you can let everyone mingle around the dishes with great white wine from Friuli. Then sit down to the table with family-style platters of the main courses like a big pot of mussels, lobster, and winter vegetables.&amp;quot; 6. Keep It Simple Yes, you are making a classic Italian meal, but don&amp;#039;t feel like you have to cover all the bases of Italian cuisine. &amp;quot;Don&amp;#039;t feel like you need to pair the dishes with a bowl of pasta,&amp;quot; advises Bastianich, &amp;quot;You can instead grill polenta the day before, or, if you don&amp;#039;t want to bother, serve the meal with lots of warm grilled bread.&amp;quot; 7. Remember Why You&amp;#039;re There &amp;quot;I look forward to having the family all around the table,&amp;quot; says Bastianich. &amp;quot;I look around the table and see a snapshot of four generations of a family. I can&amp;#039;t help but think and reflect on the good times and how we weathered the bad times. The reverence and importance of the day and of family is most important, and for me it is a time of reflection.&amp;quot; Lidia&amp;#039;s Menu for a Fantastic Feast of the Seven Fishes Lidia Bastianich recommends a mixture of hot and cold fish and seafood for this festive meal. Take advantage of the recipes she shares from her latest book, Lidia&amp;#039;s Italy, as well as a few dishes developed by the team of executive chefs at her restaurants Felidia, Becco, Lidia&amp;#039;s Kansas City, and Lidia&amp;#039;s Pittsburgh. Antipasti Baccala Mantecato Fritto Misto Insalata Calamari alla Manfredi Primi Shrimp alla Buzara Secondi Mussels with Farro, Cannellini, and Chickpeas Paccheri with Lobster Brodetto Pesce Spada "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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