'Tis The Season To Eat Fish

It’s become traditional to serve roast Turkey on Christmas Day here in the UK. In fact it’s estimated that a whopping 10 million turkeys were eaten last Christmas. But here at M&J we prefer a nice bit of fish and seafood on our Christmas table. And we’re not the only ones. Around the world, fish makes it onto many festive menus:

Poland: Carp and Herring are firm favourites of the feast served on Christmas Eve. 12 dishes are served and can include stuffed Carp, fried Carp and Herring in a wine or cream sauce.

Portugal: Traditionally the main Christmas meal is boiled dried and salted Cod, served with boiled cabbage or greens, boiled potatoes, boiled onions, boiled eggs and chickpeas. All accompanied by vast amounts of much-loved olive oil.

Italy: The Feast of the Seven Fishes is held on Christmas Eve and dishes can include salt Cod (Baccalà), deep fried Calamari or Scallops, stuffed-baked Lobsters, Octopus salad and  delicacies such as fried Eel and Oyster shooters.

Sweden: The Swedish ‘julbord’ is a buffet, eaten at lunchtime on Christmas Eve. Cold fish remains an important part of this fish including Herring, served in many different ways, shellfish, Gravadlax and smoked Salmon.

Norway: In coastal regions dishes of Cod or Haddock, or more traditionally a species of fish called Lutefisk is served on Christmas Eve.

Czech Republic: The big festibve feast of fried Carp and potato salad is eaten on the evening of 24 December.

Don’t forget fish and seafood makes for a much lighter meal and is quicker to cook than Turkey too. So maybe 2017 is the year to give the Turkey a well-earned rest and try fish instead. Salt-baked Cod, Lobster Thermidor, roasted Turbot or even fried Carp; the options for a proper fishy feast on your menu are endless. #SaveTheTurkey