An Italian Christmas in Trenton

The Feast of the Seven Fishes, an Italian Christmas Eve tradition, dates back to the Middle Ages

By: Faith Bahadurian
   It has become one of the top dining events of the season. So if you missed the Festa dei Sette Pesci (Feast of the Seven Fishes) dinner at the Baldassari Regency in Trenton earlier this month, mark your calendar now for next year, and be sure to get tickets early.
   The Feast of the Seven Fishes, an Italian Christmas Eve tradition, dates back to the Middle Ages. But there is a sweet back story to this particular dinner. Regency owner Italo "Eddie" Baldassari’s son, Paul. owns a financial consulting firm in Washington, D.C., and over the years has gotten to know the D.C. area’s top Italian chefs.
   So, six years ago, Paul started enticing these chefs up to Trenton each December to create a glorious night of feasting at his father’s establishment, a veritable labor of love, for his father and for the city of Trenton. This year the chef count zoomed up to seven participants, resulting in a "critical mass" of fine dining right in our own back yard.
   So popular has this event become that local movers and shakers have even brought in one or two of the chefs to produce spectacular dinners for private affairs of their own at the Regency.
   So, if you want to make a social splash, you can throw a dinner with a top celebrity chef from Washington, D.C. Or you can create your own feast of the seven fishes — or up to 13, as the tradition varies — at home.
   Chef Enzo Febbraro has been on board since the start. In January he is opening the much-anticipated D’Acqua in Washington with Francesco Ricchi, who also owns Cesco and Estrusco. Together they created the evening’s passed appetizers, including such tidbits such as Kirk Avondoglio’s (Perona Farms) cured salmon, plus tempura shrimp in balsamic reduction, and foie gras mousse puffs (one of several nods to the fish-averse).
   Domenico Cornacchia, corporate chef for Café Milano, Sette Osteria and Sette Bello restaurants, produced the several items in the antipasti. They included mint-crusted sardines with fennel (heavenly), squid and crab salad with sea urchin, and veal sausage over caviar lentils.
   The pasta course was Chef Enzo Livia’s (Spezie and Il Pizzico reataurants) black squid ink raviolini filled with asparagus and cuttlefish, and the "main" course was a twin presentation by Chef Cesare Lanfranconi of Ristorante Tosca: sea scallops with crispy prosciutto and lobster sauce alongside veal filet with wild mushrooms and red wine sauce.
   In case we weren’t full yet, the desserts by pastry chef Gianluigi Dellaccio (owner of Dolci Gelati, a pastry and gelato boutique) included an elegant buffalo ricotta gelato (or cassata) with caramelized winter fruits, almond biscotti, and petite sfogliatelle, the pretty shell-shaped pastry.
   The cassata really caught my interest. A little research reveals that there are two kinds of cassata. One is a typically Sicilian sponge cake that encases ricotta and almond cream fillings studded with candied fruits. But there is also cassata that is basically gelato made with ricotta cheese. The cheese adds a little extra richness, and sometimes a slightly grainy texture, although that was not the case with the buffalo ricotta that Mr. Dellaccio used.
   The recipe below (surprise: It’s not fish!) is cookbook author Erica De Mane’s take on cassata. Hers is flavored with Marsala and rum, making it ideal for holiday festivities. I have added my own suggestion for a little candied fruit, orange peel, maybe, or good quality citron, since the Italians do have such a knack for candied fruits, little nuggets of sweetness in an otherwise modestly sweet concoction.
RICOTTA GELATO
WITH MARSALA AND RUM
freely adapted from
"The Flavors of Southern Italy"
by Erica De Mane,
John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2004
Makes about 1 quart.
   2 cups non-ultra pasteurized heavy cream
   Pinch of ground cinnamon (omit if using fruit)
   1 teaspoon best quality vanilla extract
   1 tablespoon dry Marsala
   1 teaspoon rum
   1 tablespoon wildflower honey
   3 large egg yolks
   Scant ½ cup sugar
   1½ cups whole-milk ricotta
   Warm water, if needed
   1/3 cup finely chopped good quality candied orange or citron peel (optional)
   Pour the cream into a medium saucepan. Add the cinnamon (if using), vanilla, Marsala, and rum. Cook over medium heat until bubbles form around the edges of the pan.
   In a large bowl, whisk the honey, egg yolks and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the cream mixture and whisk until blended. Return to the saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until thickened enough to coat the spoon, 4 or 5 minutes. Purée the ricotta in a food processor until it is smooth (if it is very thick, add a little warm water to make it easier to puree). Add the ricotta to the cream mixture and stir well to blend. Refrigerate the ricotta custard mixture for at least 2 hours. (A purist would sieve the custard before refrigerating.)
   Pour into an ice cream freezer and freeze according to the manufacturer’s directions, adding fruit, if using, in the last 30 seconds. (If you add it too soon it gets too hard.)
   For best flavor and texture, gelato should be served a little warmer than American ice cream.
The Baldassari Regency is located at 145 Morris Avenue in the Chambersburg district of Trenton, (609) 392-1280.