Nonna Rina Pesce’s Linguine with Eel

Of all the dishes served on la Vigilia, eel has the longest-standing place in Italian Christmas tradition. I still know many families who make their way to remote fish stores, hours away, to purchase an eel and let it live rent-free in their bathtub until Christmas Eve. The tradition of eating capitone, a female eel, has been going on for centuries in southern Italy, and is rooted deep in superstition. It is said that the eel symbolizes the snake that tempted Eve in the garden