Christmas Eve the Italian way

Usually at the hair salon, the customer does all the talking. As the stylist executes a buzz, bob, or blunt cut, he or she simply listens, nods, and utters an occasional "Oh, really? Tell me more." But the other day, as Leon deMagistris trimmed my layers, I was all ears.

It all started when I asked him about his plans for the holidays.

"I am originally from Avellino, Italy, just outside Naples," began deMagistris, who still speaks with an accent despite 40 years in the United States. "During the holidays, we celebrate just the way we did with my mother, especially on Christmas Eve."

That's when Leon, his threesons, and his nephew cook a 12-course, all-white seafood meal for a crowd of about 28 relatives. The family sits down to dinner at 7, and unless they're part of this team - which both cooks and serves - they don't get up from the table until 1 or 2 a.m.

This tradition is not unique to the deMagistris family, I learned later. Many Italians celebrate Christmas Eve with 12 courses, which represent the 12 apostles, and an all-white menu and table (linens, candles, plates), symbolizing the purity of Christ Jesus. But in Italy, the dishes vary slightly depending on one's region, one's town, and one's own family recipes.

Clearly, from the broad smile on his face and his excitement at talking about the event, this is a tradition Demagistris treasures. It's a way to keep alive the spirit of his mother, he explained while snipping my bangs. "She was a wonderful cook. Her meals were light, tasty, and never overly spiced. She influenced all of us."

Grandma Giuseppa (affectionately called "Giuseppina" or "Nonni") appears to have influenced Leon's son, Dante, most of all. "When I was 8, instead of doing my homework after school, I would cook with my grandmother," Dante told me later in a phone interview. Now a professional chef at Boston's blu, an upscale restaurant at the Sports Club LA, Dante cooks many of the same pasta, risotto, and seafood dishes he made with her.

Since he was 14, Dante has orchestrated the planning and cooking for Christmas Eve. He sticks mostly to his grandmother's recipes, but sometimes he will introduce a new dish for the occasion.

Tonight's menu will start with fried calamari, calamari ceviche, and an octopus salad. Then, Dante and his team will serve grilled eel in a balsamic reduction sauce; zepole (potato dough) fried with baccala (salt cod); stuffed escarole; mussels cooked with garlic and olive oil; and angel hair pasta with anchovies, capers, red chili flakes, parsley, garlic, pine nuts, and golden raisins (see recipe).

New this year is a whole striped bass, which Dante will bake in a coating of salt; lemon zest, and juice; and fresh rosemary, sage, and parsley. "The recipe was invented in Italy," he says, "but it's not specific to Christmas Eve." Also likely to be on the holiday menu is a fresh sardine casserole. The remaining two dishes will be determined today, based on which seafood is freshest at the market.

Although he spends his working hours hovering over a hot stove, Dante deMagistris always looks forward to cooking the Christmas Eve meal with his father; his brothers, Filippo and Damian; and cousin Anthony. "I cook fine, pristine food every day, so I enjoy making more rustic dishes for this occasion," he says.

On top of that, cooking at his father's home is hardly as pressured as at blu. "We have a lot of fun in the kitchen together," he says, "even though we take the cooking, presentation, and serving of the dishes very seriously."

The tradition of only men cooking in the kitchen started when Grandma deMagistris was still in Italy and the rest of the family was in the US.

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