Italy's people have a great love of many things: the arts, their history, and their customs and traditions. One tradition they hold especially dear is their devotion to their local patron saints. Their homage to them include elaborate festas and incredible food.
On March 19th, the Festa San Giuseppe takes place. Although traditionally it began in Sicily, the Feast of San Giuseppe (St. Joseph) is now celebrated throughout most of Italy. According to legend, during the Middle Ages a terrible drought and famine plagued the people of Sicily. It virtually destroyed most of their crops and many people in the western part of Sicily died of starvation. The people began praying to St. Joseph and begged for his intercession to their plight. In return they promised to celebrate his feast day by having special altars abundant in food that would be shared with all people rich and poor as their thanksgiving to him. At midnight on March 19th the prayers of Sicily's children were answered. The rains came and the land which had been browned and barren were now lush and green again. Sicily's people has kept their promise to San Giuseppe through the generations by preparing elaborate food altars. In Sicily olive branches hung over doorways signify that a St. Joseph Altar is being held.) 
Since the Festa di San Giuseppe is celebrated during the Lenten season the foods prepared do not contain meat. The main focus surrounds the variety, shapes and designs of breads made for this feast. There are three breads that honor the Holy Family. The bread for St. Joseph is in the shape of a staff. According to legend, the staff of St. Joseph bloomed with entwining flower blossoms which singled him out from Mary's other suitors as her husband-to-be. (1) St. Joseph was a carpenter by trade and breadcrumbs signify sawdust.
The bread for Mary is in the shape of a date palm and a wreath with a star in the center represents Jesus. These three breads are placed upon an altar that has been created using the finest linens, and decorated with flowers (especially the St. Joseph Lily,) statues, candles and pictures. The staff bread of St. Joseph is placed on the left, the date palm bread of Mary is placed on the right, and the the wreath-star bread or a cross representing Jesus is placed in the middle. The foods presented on the San Giuseppe table will include many different types of seafood (fried shrimp, calamari, fried baccal�), vegetables of all kinds that will be either stuffed, fried, or parts of an omlette.) Speaking of omlettes...you will find some of the most scrumptious omelettes at a San Giuseppe table. Omlettes (frittatas) with vegetables like artichokes, cardoons (burdock), asparagus, broccoli, beans, potatoes, tomatoes, spinach and beans. Dried fava beans are a reminder of the great drought. Desserts are also in great abundance. You will find a wide assortment of pastries, fruit, fritters, doughnuts and cakes on a St. Joseph Table. They are elegant and oh sooooooo good!! |
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Cook dried fava beans in boiling water until tender, adding more water as needed. During cooking, saute seasoning in olive oil until tender; add to beans. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot in soup bowl, as the consistency will bit a bit soupy. |
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Blend together above ingredients. Fry mixture in a little olive oil, stirring until golden brown. Remove from pan immediately. Cook and drain pasta. Add a little oil and stir. Serve pasta and add sauce and cover with breadcrumbs. |
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Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm water in a large mixing bowl. In another bowl combine sugar, scalded milk, butter and salt - stirring until butter melts. Cool to lukewarm. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Blend in yeast mixture. Gradually add the 5 1/2 cups of flour, beating until smooth. Turn dough out onto a floured board and knead in the additional 1/2 cup of flour. Continue kneading until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 18-20 minutes. Place dough in a greased bowl, turning to coat on all sides. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 3 hours. Punch dough down and divide into 3 pieces. Roll each piece into a 36-inch rope. With the tip of a sharp knife, make 1-inch intervals along one side of the rope, beginning at the center and working toward one end. Repeat on the opposite side of the rope and repeat steps. Starting at one end, shape rope into a coil with the cut end toward the outside, rolling just to the center of the rope. Repeat, starting at the opposite end and rolling coil in the opposite direction, forming an "S" shaped loaf. (You can also roll the whole rope loosely into one coil). Place on a greased baking sheet. Brush top with a mixture of 1 beaten egg white and 1 teaspoon of water. Sprinkle on sesame seeds. Place the pan in a warm spot and let rise until doubled in bulk. Bake in a 350� degree oven oven until nicely browned. |
Soak the fava beans, borlotti or kidney beans, chickpeas, and chestnuts overnight in abundant water (if using fresh chestnuts, you don't need to soak them). Add the chickpeas and the lentils for the last hour or two of soaking. Drain and place in a large earthenware pot with 9-10 cups of water. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 3 hours or until all the legumes are tender. After the first hour and a half, add the tomatoes, onion and fennel seeds. Chop the celery and other greens into fairly small pieces, and add them to the soup. Salt to taste. A few minutes before removing from heat, season with salt and pepper and olive oil. Serves 6-8. |
Saute onion and garlic in a large pan. Stir in sauce, water and seasonings and cook until thick. Add can of pasta con Sarde and cook together. Brown bread crumbs and sugar in a little oil. Serve sauce over hot spaghetti and sprinkle with browned bread crumbs. |
Cook cauliflower or broccoli and fennel leaves. Salt to taste. Drain well and fry in olive oil and set aside. Peel off leaves of artichokes to the heart. Cut in slices. Fry in olive oil. Salt to taste and set aside. Grate bread. Mince garlic in crumbs and fry in 2 tablespoons of olive oil in frying pan stirring occasionally until lightly browned. Set aside. Boil spaghetti, drain and save 1 cup of spaghetti water. Mix cooked rice and spaghetti together. Place on a platter and cover with broccoli or cauliflower and sliced artichokes, then sprinkle with bread crumbs and cheese. If too dry, add some of the spaghetti water and a little olive oil. |
Cut fish into serving pieces, wash and drain. Cook pared and quartered potatoes in salted water and cover for about 5-7 minutes. Drain and keep water. Put oil into large skillet and saute onion and garlic until golden in color. Put cod pieces over the onion and garlic mixture and cover with wine. Season with salt and pepper and cook until wine is almost evaporated. Transfer fish carefully to a large greased earthenware casserole. Arrange potatoes between and around fish. Add olives, capers, pinenuts and raisins distributing over the fish and potaotes. Cover all with chopped tomatoes and the remaining wine and onion-garlic mixture. Sprinkle with parsely and basil and season with salt and pepper. Bake in a moderate 350 degree oven for about 30-35 minutes or until fish flakes easily. Serves 8. NOTE: Water reserved from potatoes may be added to casserole if needed for additional liquid. |
Saute onion and celery. Mix with other ingredients except oil. After all is mixed, add 1/4 cup oil to mixture. Mix well. Cleaning Artichokes: Clip tip off and remove outer leaves. Dip in hot water 1 minute. Drain and stuff between leaves. Pour remaining oil over artichokes. Cook in covered pot in 2 inches of water over medium heat for 1 /2 hours. |
Batter: Combine 2 cups of flour with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper; set aside. Combine 1/2 cup of milk, 3 eggs, and 2 tablespoons of melted shortening. Gradually add the flour mixture to the liquid, beating until smooth. Fill a deep saucepan 1/2 to 2/23 full with olive oil. Heat slowly to 350� F. Dip pieces of vegetables in the batter and fry in hot oil, being careful not to crowd the pieces. Fry about 5 minutes or until golden brown, turning occasionally. Hold cooked pieces over the hot oil (in a slotted spoon to drain before placing on paper towels). Place on a warm platter and serve immediately. |
Clean squid. Remove heads and tentacles, empty sac and wash thoroughly. Remove outer veining under cold running water (veining will pull off easily). Rinse again in cold water. The tentacles are also edible. To clean these, remove heads and proceed to clean as above. Cook in lightly salted boiling water until tender. Cut squid into rings. Make a dressing of oil, lemon, parsley and other seasonings. Mix well and marinate squid. Serve warm or cold. |
Butter and four 2 eight-inch round cake pans. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Beat the egg whites until they are stiff but not dry, folding in the salt and 1/2 cup of the sugar part way through. Beat the egg yolks with the remaining 1 cup sugar and lemon rind. fold the yolks into the white with a rubber spatula. Sift the flour with the cream of tartar twice, and fold it into the eggs. Pour the mixture into the cake pans. Bake the cakes for 40 minutes, until the tops are golden. Let cool. Force the ricotta through a sieve. Combine with the remaining ingredients and set aside. 6 tablespoons liquer or Marsala Confectioner's sugar Assemble the cake. Cut cake into strips or slices and sprinkle with loquer or Marsala. Line the sides, bottom, and the top of a 10-cup found mold with strips of cake. Fill the mold with the creamy ricotta. Top with a layer of cake, pressing it down to fill the mold solidly. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 4-6 hours. Unmold the cake and sprinkle with confectioner's sugar before serving. There are many variations to Cassata...some are simple and others are more elegant. All of them are terrific !! *(This recipe is from The Best of Southern Italian Cooking by J.C. Grasso © 1984. |
Sprinkle each sponge cake layer with rum. Beat cheese, sugar and milk to spreading consistency. Add chocolate, chopped cherries and cinnamon. Mix until well blended. Spread on each layer, top and sides of cake. Decorate with whole maraschino cherries. |
Mix all ingredients with an electric mixer for two minutes. Set aside to rest for 30 minutes. Heat vegetable shortening or oil in deep fryer and drop by teaspoonful a few at a time and cook until golden brown. Drain on paper towels and sprinkle with powdered sugar. These will stay soft for a few days. |
Bring water, shortening and salt to a boil. While boiling stir in flour combined with other dry ingredients, over heat until it forms a ball, pulling away from the sides of the pan. Cool slightly. Then beat in, with mixer, 6 eggs, one at a time. Fry by teaspoonful in deep fat at 400 degrees Let drain and sprinkle with confectioner's sugar. |
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place water, butter, sugar and grated lemon rind in medium sized saucepan. Bring to a boil. When butter is melted, put in flour, all at once. Lower heat and stir briskly until sides of pan are clean. Take from heat and continue beating until batter becomes a soft, silky ball. Let cool a little. Then, add eggs one at a time, beating after each egg. Beat until batter is shiny and smooth. Drop by the teaspoonful on a non-stick cookie sheet, or pipe batter from a pastry bag about 1-1 1/2 inches apart. Bake in oven at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Turn down oven to 350 degrees and bake another 20 minutes or until golden. When puffs are done, remove from oven. With a serving knife, slit open puff to let steam out. Cool and fill with Sicilian Cream. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. |
In medium sized bowl, mix cornstarch and sugar with one cup of milk, blending well. Next, heat 3 cups of milk in heavy saucepan together with the whole cinnamon stick and lemon peel (which has been peeled to remain in one long piece). With a wire whisk, blend other cup of milk into cornstarch and sugar until smoth and free of lumps. When milk is hot, transfer a cup of hot milk into cornstarch mixture and blend. Then, return to saucepan. Stir with whisk until mixture thickens. Remove from heat and cool in refrigerator. When cream is cooled, remove lemon peel and cinnamon stick and beat until smooth and creamy. Use as desired or directed. |
Dissolve yeast in lukewarm scalded milk, add 2 cups flour. Mix and let stand in warm place for half an hour. In a separate bowl beat egg yolks, egg whites, vanilla, sugar, lemon, and salt until light in clor. Add this mixture to the first mixture. Add in melted shortening and 5 cups flour and mix well. Cover and let rise until double in bulk. In 1/4 sections roll out dough on floured board, press out with small cutter or juice glass. Set aside and let rise once more for 20 minutes. Fry in deep fat, turn only once when edges are golden brown. Let drain on brown paper bag. When you are ready to serve, sprinkle with sugar. |
Many Italian restaurants now hold St. Joseph Day Tables and will invite the people of the community in their area to join them in celebrating this great feast with the rich and poor alike. Donations are accepted and then given to charity.
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