Intro Eight: Culinary Chronicles, Capers & Canards

Christmas Eve Meal On Christmas Eve every year my family and I cook a giant seafood dish. This dinner has been a tradition in my family since I was born and I look forward to it every year. The first coarse is a shellfish soup served with a crostini on the bottom of the bowl. My dad makes a mess of the kitchen and we all stand around and watch. He usually starts with the toasting of the crostini. He slices Italian bread, then sprinkles olive oil on each slice with a bit of garlic powder. He then toasts them in the oven. Using two frying pans he cooks the shellfish in a broth and small portions of a whitefish in another pan. The kitchen smells amazing at this point. Out comes the toast from the oven, while my father directs us to start helping. Each crostini piece goes in a huge white bowl and then my dad puts a piece of cod on top of each crostini. As the shellfish begins to open, my dad adds different stuff into the broth to make it tasty. We each walk over with our bowls and he scoops the broth over the cod and crostini. He counts out the shellfish to make sure each of us gets the same amount (I think he takes more though). He sprinkles a bit of parsley and cranks the peppermill over top of the bowl. We all enjoy the muscles, mahogany clams, and shrimp that float on top of the bowl. We always put a big bowl in the middle of the table and throw our empty shells in the bowl. It truly is amazing! -Jack C