Customer Reviews

The Eve of Seven Fishes: Christmas Cooking In The Peasant Tradition

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THE EVE OF SEVEN FISHES

Life is funny. Once upon a time I set out to write FEAST OF THE SEVEN FISHES - a story set against the backdrop of an Italian-American family cooking the Christmas Eve seafood feast. Much of the inspiration for writing the story, in addition to my wonderful childhood memories of my family dinners, came from my first Christmas Eve with my wife Shannon - who was then my girlfriend. That was a very special time - the first time I ever told her I loved her. Now, like I said, life is funny. Robert Germano is someone I've known for years. But unbeknownst to me, at the same time I was writing my book, Robert was doing the same, albeit in a different fashion. Not a fictional book - but a cookbook dedicated to his family's take on the Feast. More with the funniness: it was Robert who played matchmaker and introduced me to Shannon. Shannon who wrote the cookbook portion of my Feast book. Did I mention life is funny?

So obviously I owe the man, which I disclose freely. You can stop reading now if you're worried my review will be in some way tainted.

Okay, for those of you who have faith in my impartiality and general integrity here's the skinny on Robert's book:

If you like those slick, smug cookbooks put out by celebrity chefs and snobby foodies move along. You don't want to come to Robert's dinner party. However, if you enjoy someone who very simply and lovingly bares their soul through their actions and obvious affections, sit down and pour a glass of chianti. On the surface THE EVE OF SEVEN FISHES is a collection of recipes for the Feast as practiced by folks from the Molise region of Italy. But it's more than that. Reading both the text and between the lines you experience one man's plaintive plea to re-connect - not only with his immediate family and childhood and holiday memories - but with a more ancient past. Robert Germano wasn't content to simply scribble down what his mom and aunts and so on had to say. No, Robert got on a plane and went to Italy to get things straight from the source. I think it blew his mind.

When I did Feast one of my main motivations was to capture the moment where we're on the verge of losing our ethnicity as Italian-Americans - that was part of the story in a sense. Robert, however, refuses to surrender. He's passionate about preserving and celebrating these culinary traditions. He does it in the voice of your dad, your uncle or your next door neighbor. He's not trying to impress you - he's too desperate for that. Desperate to try and preserve something that is beautiful and delicious and real.

If that's not reason enough to buy the book I don't know what to tell you (actually, I'd buy it just for the pasta with anchovies - but maybe that's just me).

I have yet to see the actual book but being a long time friend of Robert's, I had the opportunity to review his final draft while back in the "Burg" this past July. A great christmas gift for everyone,,,, even if you are not Italian! This book made my Christmas shopping a cake-walk this year! Janet Lee Knizner-Enders

This book is wonderful! Full of stories and delicious recipes. I have the book, and it is one of my treasures!

Bravo to Robert Germano - well done. As an Italian-American who loves to cook and eat with family, and has roots from Calabria and Naples...I applaud your book content, Italian phrases, historical information, layout, photography and the delicious traditional recipes: from the heart and home of true Italia. The Feast of the Seven Fishes was something not all too familiar to my family while we were growing up, as the brothers were "anti-fish" for many years, but not anti-Italian tradition. We compromised with alternative meal preparations, as most Italians do - "anything for the princes in the family (and I write that lovingly)." This past Christmas, my family allowed me to prepare 5 fish dishes, inspired by your recipes - and they loved them....It is my hope that next year, they will feast on all 7. Thank you for sharing Italian heritage, tradition and culture. Bravo e buona fortuna.

This is a wonderful book! Loved reading about the author's family traditions. Helped me remember the wonderful Christmas Eve dinners at my grandmothers home. Anyone who shares the Italian heritage and traditional Christmas Eve dinner will enjoy this book.

I wasn't expecting a cookbook written by Mario Batali, but at least one without typos and with proper grammar. What I expected was a fun cookbook with recipes I had never heard of, something new and different from Molise. I even sent this to my sister who also prepares a traditional Feast of the Seven Fishes Christmas Eve dinner--- we were BOTH extremely disappointed. Its poorly written and boring.