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The Feast of Seven Fishes

George Hirsch December 14, 2025

The Feast of Seven Fishes

The Feast of the Seven Fishes is a popular Southern Italian tradition celebrated worldwide. In Italy, it is called “la Cena Della vigilia,” or Christmas Eve Dinner, December 24th, observed by abstaining from eating meat on Christmas Eve and enjoying the holiday meal with family, filled with a seafood spread.

WHY SEVEN? Some say the number seven represents the seven sacraments, seven days of creation, or simply the fact that seven signifies perfection in the Bible. This may be speculation; however, what is known is that this celebration is much appreciated and shared by most Italians and fish lovers.

Fish: You will find virtually any Mediterranean fish prepared from this region—everything from anchovies to eel. Popular fish in the feast include calamari, smelts, clams, and shrimp.

One of my favorites is baccalá, a dried, salted cod.

Baccala How To: To reconstitute the baccalá, you soak it for two days, changing the water three or four times.

I prepare the baccalá in several ways, including sauteed and with tomatoes. Still, it's also quite popular to prepare it in the oven with potatoes or even in a salad with potatoes and black olives.

The Seven Fishes is a feast that brings family and friends together to celebrate a significant evening. The seafood is only the centerpiece of what really takes place, keeping a tradition alive with family and friends. Isn’t that what holidays are really about? Buone Feste!

Seafood Chowder

Fritto Misto

Linguini Calamari Sauce

Baccala and Potato Recipe

Capitone Arrosto & Fritto

Clam Pie Recipe

Mussels in White Wine Sauce

Stuffed Calamari Recipe

Shrimp Risotto Recipe

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George Hirsch’s Cedar Plank Salmon

George Hirsch July 6, 2025

I've introduced the age-old art of hot smoking on wood planks for over twenty-five years in my TV shows and cookbooks. It's foolproof and quite impressive for entertaining, and as I say at the end of my show.."If I can do it, you can do it!"

However, this technique of cooking on planks is far from new. The Indians in the Pacific Northwest cooked on cedar and alder, a tradition done for many centuries, as all cooking was done on an open fire. Once you try it yourself, you'll see why.

Chef George’s Cedar Plank Salmon

Makes four servings

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*1 cedar plank

One 1 1/2-pound salmon fillet

Juice of one fresh lemon

1 teaspoon each: thyme, rosemary, paprika, black pepper

3 Tablespoons olive oil

2 Tablespoons butter, melted

1 Tablespoon chopped fresh dill

1 lemon, sliced

Soak plank in water to cover for 2 hours; drain.

Preheat the Grill to high.

Rub the plank with one tablespoon of olive oil.

Place fillets on the plank; season with thyme, rosemary, paprika, black pepper, dill, and lemon juice. Top with remaining olive oil.

Grill for 10-14 minutes on a covered grill for optimum smoke or until the fish is cooked. The thickness of the fillets will determine the final cooking time.

Before serving, top with fresh dill butter and serve with extra fresh lemon slices, or grill lemon slices along with salmon.

Tips:

Planked Salmon as seen on George Hirsch Lifestyle TV Series — Planked Salmon as seen on *George Hirsch Lifestyle* TV Series

*Soak planks for at least 2 hours or more in cold water before you fire up the grill.

Make sure the grill is good and hot; this is key! Grilled cedar-planked fish takes on a wonderful smoky flavor. The plank will be charred, but the fish will be perfectly cooked. When opening the grill, if the planks do not fit up, spray the plank with water to douse the flame and immediately close the grill cover to reduce oxygen.

Note: Cedar plank should be untreated non-resin wood, no thicker than 1 inch.

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Summer Lobster Boil

George Hirsch June 26, 2025

Boils are also known as a Steam, Bake, Fish Fry, Potluck, Planks, or Seafood Barbecue. Here are a few kinds of boils I’ve either been privileged to attend in my travels or have had the pleasure of creating myself.

George Hirsch's Lobster Boil

New England - lobster steamed with beer, corn, sausage, and new potatoes
Montauk - mussels, clams, lobster, striped bass, duck quarters, LI Yukons, corn
Maryland or Chesapeake - blue crab, oysters, and clams steamed with beer, vinegar, and Old Bay cooked in a steamer basket, served with crackers, corn, and slaw
Cajun & Creole Boil - shrimp, crab, crawfish, andouille sausage or kielbasa, small red new potatoes
Low Country or Frogmore Stew - usually just shrimp with smoked sausage & corn
Texan - crawfish, oysters, and good old Texan smoked brisket
Monterey - Dungeness crabs, shrimp, and artichokes when in season
Seattle - planked salmon & oysters

Types of seafood commonly used for a boil are typically shellfish, with shrimp being the most popular ingredient. Local availability, taste preferences, and imagination can rule your boil. You may consider Dungeness and blue claw crabs, shrimp, oysters, calamari, hard-shell and razor clams, mussels, crawfish, Pacific salmon, or striped bass for your boil. Equipment: a large outdoor gas grill, cooker, or large pit with charcoal, as well as a large pot (size depends on the amount of seafood and the number of guests). 20-gallon stockpot, large paddle to stir, large wire strainer or skimmer to scoop, tongs, mallets, crackers, picks, picnic tables, No utensils––eat with your hands.

Summer Boil

Flavoring ingredients: onions, split heads of garlic, salt, lemons, beer, bay leaves, crab boil seasoning, cayenne pepper, hot sauce

George Hirsch's Lobster Boil

Serve: Remove the seafood from the pot, drain it well, and place it on picnic tables covered with newspaper, brown paper, or butcher paper. Serve with bowls of lemon wedges, melted butter, bottles of hot sauce, and good-quality pieces of bread. Beverages: Iced tubs of tall necks or keg beer (keep it local to your boil theme), tall necks of root beer, chilled rosé, iced tea, or lemonade.

George Hirsch's Lobster Boil

Preparing George’s East Coast Seafood Boil Recipe

My boil is a combination of New England, Maryland & Montauk and is easily prepared on the side burner of a gas grill. Change seafood according to your own taste and availability. Add snow peas for additional color and crunch.

Non-seafood additions to boil with cook times:

1 link per person smoked or Italian sausage, grilled & add to the boil at the end
3 small red new potatoes per person, 15 minutes
1 ear of corn per person, 10 minutes
1/4 cup snow peas, 2-3 minutes
2 Tablespoons melted butter per person for dipping
Serve hot sauce on the side

To prepare Seafood Boil:

Add 2 cups of water, 2 bottles of beer, 1 head of fresh chopped garlic, 4 bay leaves, several sprigs of fresh parsley, 1 Tablespoon of black peppercorns, 1 Tablespoon of powdered garlic, 1 Tablespoon thyme, and 1/4 cup of paprika. If you like it spicy, add dried hot pepper flakes or chopped jalapeño. Bring the liquid to a boil.

Add seafood in stages for different cooking times:

Lobster 7 minutes for a 1-pound lobster + 1 minute for each additional 4 ounces
Blue Claw Crabs 5-7 minutes
Steamers or Littlenecks- 5-7 minutes or until opened
Shrimp (shell on) 4-5 minutes
Mussels 3-4 minutes or until opened

Separately, to boil lobsters:

Fill a large pot three-quarters full of cold water and cover.
A good rule of thumb is to allow 2 1/2 quarts of water for each lobster. Two or more lobsters will cook at the same time, provided the pot is large enough. When in doubt, use two pots.
Bring the water to a rapid boil.
Lobsters should be alive with the safety bands left on the claws. Drop the live lobsters one at a time head first, let the water boil again, and cover the pot. Now you will begin to time the cooking.
Allow 7 minutes for a one-pound lobster, and add 1 minute for every 4 ounces. A 1 1/2-pound lobster will cook in 9 minutes.
Lobsters will turn a bright red when cooked. Remove lobsters from the pot with a pair of tongs.
Allow at least 2- 1 pound lobsters per person since a 1-pound lobster offers only 4 ounces of meat.

George Hirsch's Lobster Boil

To Grill Lobsters:

Lobsters are split and cleaned
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 Tablespoons seafood seasoning
6 cloves garlic, sliced
1/4 pound clarified or drawn butter
3 lemons, cut into wedges

Preheat grill to medium-high

Combine the olive oil, seafood seasoning, and garlic in a small bowl. Place the lobster on its back and brush it with some of the oil mixture. Place the lobster on the grill, split side down, for 3 minutes. Brush with olive oil, turn, and cook for 5 to 6 minutes longer, until done. A 1 1/2-pound lobster should cook in 9 minutes: 7 minutes for the first pound and 1 minute for each additional 4 ounces.

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George Hirsch Lifestyle PBS TV Series visits Montauk Clam Bar

Seafood Chowder, as seen on George Hirsch Lifestyle

George Hirsch June 16, 2025

My inspiration for this chowder is living so close to the water with an abundance of fresh seafood to choose from. The nice part of this recipe is its versatility. The first part of the chowder is a rich tomato broth base, and the second part is adaptable, allowing you to swap out any of the seafood based on seasonal availability and your own personal preference.

Is it soup or stew? Early versions of chowder originated from the New England area: a frugal recipe consisting of pork fat, onions, potatoes, fish, herbs, and dry biscuits or flour for thickening. The ingredients were layered in a pot and cooked in water, with a bit of milk added at the end. In the 1800s, Manhattan clam chowder was notable for containing tomatoes. Manhattan clam chowder has been described as "that rather horrendous soup resembling a vegetable soup that accidentally had some clams dumped into it." All respect, Mr. Beard, but those are fighting words. As a New Yorker and from coastal Long Island, an East Ender, we take our chowder VERY seriously.

Tomato-based clam chowders emerged with the newfound popularity of the tomato in the mid-1800s, particularly in the New York and Rhode Island regions, where large populations of Italians and Portuguese were established. In 1939, Maine legislators introduced a bill outlawing tomatoes in chowder because it is far more of a vegetable soup. What?

Manhattan Style Seafood Chowder, "Hee-ah er wicked good CHOWDAH"!

Makes 6-8 servings

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1 Tablespoon olive oil

1/2 cup sweet onion, chopped

1/4 cup fennel, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1/4 cup carrots, chopped

2 cups Yukon potatoes, scrubbed and diced into 1/2 pieces

2 cups fresh plum tomatoes, deseeded and chopped or 1 (28 ounce can of chopped San Marzano tomatoes)

2 cups vegetable or fish broth

1 teaspoon dried basil

For the seafood:

1 dozen fresh littleneck clams

1/2 pound fresh cod, cut into one-inch pieces

1/4 pound calamari, cleaned and cut into thin rings

1 pound mussels, cleaned

a few leaves of fresh flat-leaf parsley, basil, and oregano

fresh ground pepper to taste

Preheat a large soup pot to medium temperature. Add olive oil, onions, fennel, carrots, and garlic, and cook until tender. Add tomatoes, broth, potatoes, and dried basil. Bring to a boil, then lower to simmer for 10 minutes. Add clams and cod fish and gently simmer for 10 minutes. Add fresh basil, parsley, and mussels, and cook for 3-5 minutes or until mussels open.

Add fresh ground black pepper to taste & serve immediately.

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13 EPISODES on 4 HD-DVD Disk Set, season one

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Gather 'Round the Grill Cookbook, Vintage (new)

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Beer Batter Cod

George Hirsch March 26, 2025

Waterside fish fry as seen on George Hirsch Lifestyle — Waterside fish fry as seen on *George Hirsch Lifestyle* WATCH on PBS PASSPORT

The carbonation in the beer makes the batter exceptionally airy and produces a crispy coating. Malt vinegar is a British favorite on fish and chips.

With its mild flavor, low-fat content, and dense, flaky white flesh, it's no wonder cod is one of the most common fish used for fish & chips, along with haddock and plaice.

George's Beer Batter Cod

makes 4 - 6 servings

chefgeorgehirsch.com | George Hirsch Lifestyle

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

2 eggs

1 teaspoon hot sauce

1 cup beer, a strong full-flavored Stout or India Pale Ale

vegetable oil for frying

2 pounds cod fillet, cut into serving pieces

Malt vinegar for serving. FOLLOW THE RECIPE INSTRUCTIONS BELOW

Combine 1 cup of the flour, sugar, baking powder, and black pepper in a medium bowl. Stir in the eggs and hot sauce. Slowly pour in the beer, constantly stirring, until the foam subsides and the batter is smooth. Let the batter rest for 15 to 20 minutes.

Heat 2 to 3 inches of oil to 370 degrees F. in a deep saucepan or deep-fat fryer.

Dredge the cod in the remaining 1/4 cup flour, shaking off any excess, and dip it into the batter.

Carefully slip the pieces into the hot fat and cook until brown on both sides, turning the fish once with a wire skimmer. Remove the fish with a skimmer and drain on a wire cooling rack to keep it crispy. Serve with French fries, malt vinegar, and a good Classic or Garlic Aïoli.