Holiday Specialty
Dried salt cod and prune bread are not usually offered on mainstream menus, but come Christmas, the foods are among ethnic delicacies served at local tables.
Called baccalà, the salt cod often is part of the Feast of the Seven Fishes observed by families of Italian descent.
The prune bread — a single layer of yeast dough baked with a sweet prune topping — is a Slovak favorite served at the Christmas Eve meal.
According to Glenna Franko, who practices the annual Slovak ritual, prune bread is among 12 foods served at the Holy Supper.
“In some villages 12 foods on the table symbolize the 12 apostles of Jesus Christ,” said Franko, 79, of Center Township.
The other items include fish, honey, potatoes, peas, perogies, mushroom soup, sauerkraut soup, onion, butter, garlic and futchka, miniature yeast rolls dipped in honey.
Although Franko herself is not Slovakian, she has perfected the tradition through her husband, Frank, taking over years ago when her mother-in-law was no longer able.
“When twilight arrives on Christmas Eve, the mother covered the table with a white cloth in memory of the swaddling clothes of the infant Jesus,” Franko said, describing a tradition that began in the Carpathian highlands of northern Slovakia.
In some instances, a candle was placed inside the bread, “a symbol of the Star of Bethlehem that guided the shepherds and wise men to worship and adore the light of the world,” she said.
Typically, straw was strewn on the dining room floor to symbolize the fact that Jesus lay on straw in the manger. The family's cows also were fed some of the dinner foods because the baby Jesus was surrounded by cattle while in the manger.
Although past generations would wash in a nearby creek as the shepherds did before going to see the newborn child, Franko's family members simply wash their hands. They do, however, offer a greeting in the native tongue that translates to “Christ is born!” The response translates to “Glorify him!”
“We have not carried this over, but my husband reminded me they did it at home: The mother dips her forefinger into honey and makes a sign of the cross on the foreheads of all present — including herself,” Franko said.
“The use of honey symbolizes the mother's prayer that the lives of all present will be sweet and without any bitterness,” she added.
When crossing the forehead of eligible daughters, mothers would say “May the young men go after you like the bees after honey,” Franko explained. Although Franko's family abstains, some groups sample garlic cloves dipped into honey to maintain health and to chase away pagan and evil spirits.
With six children, “Baking was pretty much an all-day affair,” said Franko, who recalls getting up at the wee hours of the morning to begin the meal. Now, her family includes 11 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren, so she begins days in advance and now must host the dinner off site to accommodate the growing group.
Along with the futchka and prune bread for the Holy Supper, Franko makes traditional nut, poppy seed and apricot rolls from scratch.
“Not bad for an Irish girl,” said Frank, who assists his wife in making the soups.
“She gets up early in the morning: She's like a baking machine.
The Frankos attend St. John Byzantine Catholic Church in Lyndora, where the Christmas Eve supper is still common among many of the 130 families who attend.
Although more common among older members, the Frankos' daughters Pat Saeler and Nadine Shingleton say they plan to continue the tradition.
One especially memorable part, said Shingleton, is the family's longtime habit after the meal of passing the Bible among family members, who read the Christmas story aloud.
“It is a very quiet, peaceful time,” she said.
“It's really just about the food, the Christmas story and family. It's a treasured family tradition.”
Although no one seems sure of its origins, many Italian families continue to celebrate Christmas Eve with the Feast of the Seven Fishes.Foregoing meat on the religious holiday, each family has its own way of preparing and serving the meal.According to Harry Shiever, president of the Butler Farm Market, one popular is staple is the baccalà, stocked after Thanksgiving until supplies are depleted around New Year's.Mary Isabella, 78, of Butler Township is among those who undertake the lengthy process of serving the seasonal cod.“You rinse it out and soak it for a couple days,” said Isabella,” who spent much of her childhood in Reggio Calabria in southern Italy.With grown children and a smaller group to feed, Isabella and her husband Paul have served fewer fishes, which often include squid, sardines and stuffed cuttlefish, in the same family as octopus and squid.The cuttlefish are cooked in a sauce made from home-canned garden tomatoes. The calamari is cooked into a sauce for linguine. Sardines are deboned and baked in the oven instead of the more common practice of frying them like a steak.“We make a salad out of the Savoy cabbage, that's another tradition. ... My husband has a good garden in the summertime. I blanch and I freeze. I thaw it out and cut in pieces and fix it.”Across town in Butler, Frances Draper has also begun planning her holiday menu.
Like Isabella, Draper has also cut back from the seven fishes, but she still finds time to prepare cuttlefish along with smelts, haddock, calamari and crab legs.“Then I make a spaghetti with anchovies and nuts and bread crumbs. I'll be cooking all day long,” Draper said.Like Isabella, Draper is unsure why the tradition originated or what the number seven signifies. Some online sources say eating seafood on Christmas Eve stems from the medieval Roman Catholic tradition of abstinence, demonstrated by giving up meat or dairy products on Fridays and holy days.Theories about the number seven tie to the seven sacraments in the Roman Catholic Church. Another is that seven is the sum of the Biblical numbers for divinity (three) and for Earth (four). The total represents God on Earth, or Jesus Christ.Draper said although many Italians of her generation still do the fish feast, fewer in subsequent generations uphold the practice.Her own nieces, however, have already begun to step up and continue the family tradition.“My father came from the old country at 16, my mother at 5 — but she was raised by an Italian mother and father.“This was something that was her tradition that she carried on to us — for which I'm so thankful.”
