Speaker 1: Hudson River Radio dot com.
Speaker 2: It beats listening to nothing.
Speaker 3: Oh my goodness, it's being Frank Frank, where the only
Speaker 3: way to be is Frank. Hello everyone, and welcome to
Speaker 3: Being Frank, where the only way to be is Frank.
Speaker 3: I'm your host, Frank Leguono, and I'd like to thank
Speaker 3: you for joining us on what we like to call
Speaker 3: the Intelligent Conversation podcast, where no conversation is out of
Speaker 3: bounds and all points of view are welcome. Listeners to
Speaker 3: our program are familiar with our routine, and that is
Speaker 3: we record live to tape and I give you the
Speaker 3: dates so you have some context and relevance. It is
Speaker 3: the twenty third of December. On this eve of Christmas Eve,
Speaker 3: I thought I'd try something a little different for this podcast.
Speaker 3: Instead of our usual intelligent Conversation with a guest, I'd
Speaker 3: like to share a Christmas Eve memory that I hope
Speaker 3: you can all relate to and enjoy. Here it is
Speaker 3: when I was a kid growing up in Fort Lee,
Speaker 3: New Jersey, we kept an Italian Sicilian American household. By that,
Speaker 3: I mean we were thoroughly Americanized, but we also observed
Speaker 3: many of the Old World traditions and of these none
Speaker 3: were more treasured and eagerly anticipated by my sister brother
Speaker 3: and I than Christmas Eve. It was an evening filled
Speaker 3: with food, laughter, light and love. I'd like to focus
Speaker 3: on the food, because through it the others will be revealed.
Speaker 3: It has become widely known that many Italians, particularly those
Speaker 3: Southern Italian servant meal consisting solely of seafood on Christmas Eve.
Speaker 3: The tradition of the feast of the Seven Fishes, as
Speaker 3: it came to be known here, was popularized during the
Speaker 3: time the so called Mediterranean diet also became a thing
Speaker 3: in American pop culture. At our place, we simply called
Speaker 3: it eating. But the seven fishes as a prescribed number
Speaker 3: and type of seafood served is really an American adaptation
Speaker 3: of Southern Italian families simply consuming a fish dinner that
Speaker 3: is sand's meat on the eve. In Sicily, it is
Speaker 3: known as la vigilia, or keeping a vigil for the
Speaker 3: impenting birth of Jesus, and as an extension of the
Speaker 3: Paschal tradition of staining from eating meat at certain times.
Speaker 3: The seven fishes label came with American consumerism. At our home,
Speaker 3: there was no fixed number associated with what we would
Speaker 3: eat that evening. However, one thing was certain, it would
Speaker 3: be a real feast. My mother would shop for days
Speaker 3: to get only the freshest seafood. Then she would spend
Speaker 3: the entire day preparing the meal. We may have had
Speaker 3: seven dishes, or it may have been a little less,
Speaker 3: but it was always delicious. No matter what the actual
Speaker 3: number it turned out to be. The meal always contained
Speaker 3: these classics calamari, fried and sauted mussels fra diavolo, usually
Speaker 3: shrimp either raw, scampy or breaded, filet of soul, Franchase's style,
Speaker 3: clams or regonato or with lingueni, and of course my
Speaker 3: mother's favorite bacala, also known as salted cod. The house
Speaker 3: smelled like heaven for hours. As I got older, our
Speaker 3: place was also the hottest ticket in town for friends
Speaker 3: lucky enough to get an invite. One who took particular
Speaker 3: pleasure in that invitation is a dear friend from my
Speaker 3: college days. I'll protect his privacy and only use his
Speaker 3: first name. Jed and I were teammates on our particularly
Speaker 3: bad football team. However, he was an exceptionally good player
Speaker 3: on that otherwise terrible squad, and he was big defensive
Speaker 3: lineman big about six foot three and two hundred and
Speaker 3: sixty five pounds, and boy could eat like it too.
Speaker 3: Jed was also Jewish, so eating at our place was
Speaker 3: a new, delightful cultural experience for him. Plus the food
Speaker 3: was always great. I remember him dropping subtle hints weeks
Speaker 3: before the eves just to see if there might be
Speaker 3: any room for him at our table. Of course there
Speaker 3: always was. Even forty plus years later and living thousands
Speaker 3: of miles apart, we still speak of it. This is
Speaker 3: really the true spirit of the season. The food just
Speaker 3: pulled it all together. After dallying over our fabulous meal,
Speaker 3: it was time to retire to the fake silver Christmas
Speaker 3: dream that graced our living room. Despite our protestations for
Speaker 3: a real tree, my mother refused, saying that they were
Speaker 3: too messy. They left pine needles all over the place.
Speaker 3: So at Christmas we took it out of the box
Speaker 3: and the cellar and assembled it in the same corner
Speaker 3: every year. Underneath the neatly wrapped packages would soon be
Speaker 3: ravaged by my sister, brother and I. You see, we
Speaker 3: simply couldn't contain our excitement until Christmas Day. That was
Speaker 3: not possible, especially for my sister Joanne. I think my
Speaker 3: brother Joseph and I we might have impossibly convinced to
Speaker 3: wait until the morning, but our sister proved in irresistible force,
Speaker 3: and what the heck why not? Our parents were certainly
Speaker 3: not going to protest. It was a rare night for
Speaker 3: our version of indulgence. It didn't take long to open
Speaker 3: our presence, as gift giving was always very modest at
Speaker 3: our place. We received one gift each from our parents,
Speaker 3: one from our grandmothers that was usually the socks and
Speaker 3: underwear that we needed, and often one from our mother's sister,
Speaker 3: my aunt Adam Maria. When we were old and able enough,
Speaker 3: we also exchanged some simple gifts. As siblings, I often
Speaker 3: marveled at how extravagant other families were at their holidays,
Speaker 3: but that was not our way. For us, the greatest
Speaker 3: gift was always our togetherness. After the frenzy, most of
Speaker 3: our energy was spent, and more often than not, we
Speaker 3: simply went off to bed to dream of our new
Speaker 3: bounty waiting for us in the morning. Those memories hopefully
Speaker 3: can never be away. This year, we'll be having dinner
Speaker 3: with my aunt and a few cousins at a find
Speaker 3: a restaurant in Brooklyn, and I'm sure we'll have plenty
Speaker 3: of fresh fish. Now, we let the others do the cooking.
Speaker 3: We just make the memories. Happy Holidays everyone, no matter
Speaker 3: which one you choose to celebrate, I sincerely hope that
Speaker 3: has spent in the warm glow of family and friends
Speaker 3: and help eat lots of fish on Christmas Eve too.
Speaker 3: Well that's my story, but I want to add just
Speaker 3: a little bit more after a brief commercial break, so
Speaker 3: please don't go anywhere. We'll be right back with the
Speaker 3: Being Frank Holiday Podcast.
Speaker 1: Hudson River Radio dot com. Hudson River Radio dot com.
Speaker 3: Welcome back, everybody to the Being Frank Holiday Podcast. You know,
Speaker 3: I understand that the holidays are not your for a
Speaker 3: lot of people, and for a lot of reasons. Often,
Speaker 3: instead of bringing laughter and hope, the season means loneliness
Speaker 3: and despair for those I offer this look for the light.
Speaker 3: It can often be found in the most unlikely of places,
Speaker 3: but it's there if you look, I promise. As we
Speaker 3: close twenty twenty five, I would also like to take
Speaker 3: this opportunity to thank our many guests who have provided
Speaker 3: us with so much intelligent conversation throughout the year. I'd
Speaker 3: also like to thank Hudson River Radio's owner Brian Horowitz
Speaker 3: for giving me the opportunity and freedom to do my thing.
Speaker 3: And of course the mailman, mister Neil Richter, deserves a
Speaker 3: special shout out for keeping us on the rails. And
Speaker 3: perhaps most of all, I want to give a great,
Speaker 3: big thanks to all of you who have taken the
Speaker 3: time and made the effort to listen being Frank and
Speaker 3: validating our intelligent conversation. Also, if you happen to enjoy
Speaker 3: my writing, I contribute into opinion column every Friday at
Speaker 3: Nyaknewsanviews dot com and my personal blog is www dot
Speaker 3: talk dash Frank dot blogspot dot com. You can also
Speaker 3: catch me at medium dot com. Here's a reminder from
Speaker 3: Ray and Dave Davies of the Kinks and their Christmas song.
Speaker 3: Remember Christmas spirit is not what you drink. Let's close
Speaker 3: with a real fun tune from nyak's own Peter Danish.
Speaker 3: If you know Peter at all, you will totally understand.
Speaker 3: Look for more intelligent conversation in twenty twenty six with
Speaker 3: being Frank, because it's the only way to be Thanks
Speaker 3: for listening, everyone, have a great holiday.
Speaker 4: Shop in Christmas screen sees it of all would be
Speaker 4: snaty ate in the shade, but are right there and
Speaker 4: lie out the frozen fear. They were checking the halts well,
Speaker 4: the beach was still near. King spice, belly shells and
Speaker 4: stead cells are starting themselves.
Speaker 1: Ah, I can.
Speaker 4: Wait till that they stet it gonna start the Christmas year.
Speaker 4: Let me see there online. I should say it's before
Speaker 4: run jingle in through the year. It's very un right,
Speaker 4: but it's just say it right seriously.
Speaker 2: I was like, it's so clear.
Speaker 4: What can't they wait till that they skid and start
Speaker 4: the Christmas year? Sixtembers for sweaters and not pepper and sticks.
Speaker 4: You get the most full of carols and.
Speaker 3: Fake snow tricks.
Speaker 2: The corn may still stands, but the rings like elves
Speaker 2: with no calendars, year after year took your still for
Speaker 2: his preak.
Speaker 4: But Sina's floow just won't.
Speaker 1: Be the light. I can't go.
Speaker 4: Wait till after Thanksgating start the Christmas year. We're carrying
Speaker 4: while harving Hopkins this time rhymes getting weird old retails
Speaker 4: jumping while it's coping. It's the same manson each year.
Speaker 4: I can't do wait till after thanks say. They then
Speaker 4: start the Christmas year.
Speaker 1: By Labor Day. They do the.
Speaker 4: Mass by flat dating sound. The one day I fear
Speaker 4: they'll make a clear Christmas starts the fish cool new Year. Oh,
Speaker 4: I can't do it. Jill to Thanksgiving to start the
Speaker 4: Christmas chair, the too Gristans give gratia just before the
Speaker 4: slaves appear.
Speaker 2: It's holly and jolly, just slightly early soon.
Speaker 4: No, every year, why can't they wait till to Thanksgivin and.
Speaker 1: To start the Christmas year. This is Hudson River Radio
Speaker 1: dot com.