(ANSA) - ROME, DEC 23 - Christmas Eve menu with fish for almost 8 out of ten Italians (78%), confirming a very deep-rooted tradition that also resists the time of Covid.
This is what emerges from a Coldiretti / Ixe survey, according to which 16% of families will choose menus with meat only, while a small minority (6%) will turn to vegetable based dishes.
If during the Christmas holidays the maximum peaks are recorded, in Italy the consumption of fish, Coldiretti points out, is over 28 kilograms per head during the year, higher than the European average of 25 kilos and the world average of 20 kilos.
The protagonist for the holidays will be the national fish starting from anchovies, clams, sole, mullet, eel, capitone and aeseppie; 68% of Italians will still taste salmon from abroad, 8% oysters and the same number of caviar, often of national production. In order not to fall into the traps of the market where the vast majority of fish for sale come from abroad, Coldiretti's advice is to look at the label on the counter where the production method must be specified ("fished", "caught in fresh water", "bred … "), The type of gear object of the capture and the area of capture or production (Adriatic Sea, Ionian Sea, Sardinia, also through a drawing or a map). To guarantee the quality of fresh fish, Coldiretti recalls the basic rules: the meat must have a firm and elastic consistency, the gills of a red or pinkish color and moist and the eyes not dry or opaque, while the smell must not be strong and unpleasant. Finally, it is better not to choose fish that have already been mutilated of the head and fins, while for molluscs and mussels, it is essential that the shell is closed. (HANDLE).