One doesn’t have to be a Roman Catholic to enjoy a fish meal on a Friday, although this Papal ordinance constitutes one of the five precepts of the Church. In the words of the Catechism:

“You will observe the prescribed days of fasting and abstinence from meat on the days prescribed by the Church.”

These days include all Fridays, in memory of the death of Jesus on Good Friday.  In addition the fish is a symbol of Christ: Greek for fish is ΙΧΘΥΣ (ichthys), the acronym for Iēsous Christos, Theou Yios, Sōtēr which translates into English as ‘Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour’.

Current concepts regarding personal well-being and responsibility towards that of our planet enforce the importance of fasting or having a day where meat is not eaten. This, for me, underlines the emphasis Pope Francis has given towards the safeguarding of our beautiful Mother Earth. Indeed, the Pope, following his recent visit to New Delhi, one of the world’s most fascinating but also one of its most polluted cities, has, in the latest version of the Roman Catholic catechism, placed crimes against our planets as an ecological sin.

Since the second church precept states that “You will confess all your sins at least once a year” this will clearly persuade believers (and non-believers too, hopefully) to be aware of the gravity of their ecological sins whether it be failing to differentiate one’s household waste to devastating, via slash-and-burn, our immeasurably precious rain forests.

I doubt whether many of these thoughts enter the minds of those of us who queue up to wait for battered fish, soggy chips and mushy peas at their favourite outlet. However, they are clearly present in the deepest recesses of our psyche as they are in supermarkets’ publicity campaigns; a Waitrose card, for example, will give a 20% discount on fish on Fridays.

Recently, Fornoli’s Bar Serra has created an enviable reputation for serving excellent Friday fish meals with customers booking from well outside the comune to enjoy their Piscean delicacy.

Last Friday I was invited by a friend to savour Bar Serra’s offering. That week it was ‘spaghetti allo scoglio’ which translates as pasta with seafood,’ scoglio’ meaning rock. (It’s really better to translate the dish as ‘seafood pasta’ since that word ‘rock’ might remind one of a stiff drink!)

Indeed, much of what was offered with the spaghetti could have been prised from marine rock pools as they are shell-fish. Here is an Italian-English glossary of what was served to us:

• Calamari = squid
• Cozze/mitilo = mussels
• Gamberetto = shrimp
• Scampi = scampi
• Tellina = Cockle
• Vongole = clams

We thoroughly enjoyed our pasta allo scoglio. The ambience was clean, light and airy, the place was not too crowded, service was prompt and with a smile and the price of euros ten which included a dessert of either tiramisu or pasta cotta, a quarter litre of wine, bread and cover represented excellent value.

Every week the seafood platter is different. Next Friday it’ll be ‘fritto misto’ (mixed fried), something we generally enjoy at Viareggio’s port but which will be particularly welcome here in rain-sodden Fornoli.

Incidentally, if one hasn’t an appetite for seafood Bar Serra serves an equally excellent two-course ‘pranzo lavorativo’ (worker’s lunch). Whatever you decide to feast on get there early on Fridays to secure a table…