When chef Mario Carbone’s great-grandparents on his father’s side migrated from Sicily, they may have been leaving their homes, but not everything was left behind. As with many Italians, their culinary customs made the trek across the Atlantic.

“Most of the migration to the U.S. happened from southern Italians, who had less money and were looking for opportunity and went to America,” Carbone says. “Feast of the Seven Fishes is one of those southern traditions that came with them and got Americanized.”