The period between Thanksgiving and Epiphany features nearly one holiday every 24 to 48 hours…and what you call them has everything to do with your family, heritage, religion, location, and general disposition towards a party.
When we lived in Portugal, though neither of us are Catholic, we observed the state-sponsored holidays, like the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, with a day off from work like the rest of the population. And we regularly paraded around on dias das festas throughout the summer…and wrapped around into Carnaval.
So when presented with the traditional Christmas Eve dinner (Feast of the Seven Fishes) with a Portuguese twist (boiled veg and lots of bacalhau) we joined in with relish… and when we moved back to the U.S. (for the moment) we flexed the holiday into a New Year’s Eve celebration we could all be proud of… Feast of the Seven (Tinned) Fishes.
For 2024, we would both be home in the states for the first time in a couple of years. So I ordered the package from the TinCanFish Man, which included the following:
- Casa de Sao Miguel Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Cántara Brand Mussels and Escabeche
- DA ROCHA Spiced with Pickles
- MAR Brand Stuffed Squids Portuguese Style
- MAR Brand Tuna Fillets in Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- MANNA Mackerel Fillets in Olive Oil
- MAR Brand Codfish Portuguese Style
- Cantara Creative in Organic Tomato Sauce
- Palacio De Oriente Solid Pack Tuna in Olive Oil (Low in Salt)
- Da Rocha Sardine Pate
- Emporium Spiced Sardine Pate
WOW… and yes…it lived up to its expectations. For $49.99 plus shipping.
And to top it off, because the only thing lacking was the required polvo and/or chocos (octopus and squid), we tapped into our favorite TAP first officer, Nuno, to smuggle in a couple of tins of the good stuff.
Along with it, we poured a Cremant Blancs de Blancs and the special Alentejo rosé sent over by Nuno’s lovely partner and our good friend Monica. Perfeito!
We opened them all, complemented them with rosemary crackers and fig and pistachio flatbreads… and what we didn’t finish we tossed into pasta with olive oil and fresh passata (tomato sauce from our garden) and sauteed fennel for a New Year’s Day repast that felt almost healthy.
Saude à tudos! E Feliz Ano Novo!
