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This year, trade your green beer and shamrocks -
for an Italian feast honoring a different saint.
St. Joseph's Day
BY NATALIE ERMANN RUSSELL
IN THE SHADOW of that other
saint’s holiday in March, St Jo
seph’s Day (March 19) brings
Italian-American communities to
the table, quite literally. The focus is
on “St Joseph’s Table,” a feast that
includes all manner of breads, vegeta
bles, egg dishes, pasta and desserts.
“It’s a time of getting together, kind
of like Thanksgiv
ing,” says Antonino
Follaro, president of
the St Joseph So
ciety in Lodi, N.J.
That’s because, leg
end has it, during a
medieval drought
and famine, Sicilians prayed to St Jo
seph, the patron of workers and the
guardian of family. When the famine
subsided, they attributed it to the saint
and promised to honor him each year
with a feast.
Because the holiday often falls dur
ing Lent when Catholics forgo eating
meat the dishes are all without meat
The complete menu varies a bit by re
gion, but there are some solid staples.
For pasta, it’s usually “St. Joseph’s
pasta,” a spaghetti with meatless red
sauce but often with anchovies or
sardines topped with bread crumbs
(to represent sawdust a nod to the
saint’s connection with the working
man). And there’s typically a vegeta
ble dish that is made with stalks of
the artichoke-like cardoon. “The car
doon looks like a big celery,” says Jan
ice Encalade, co-director of the St Jo
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USA WEEKEND • Feb. 29-March 2.2008
SP-* .. i
Sicilians
feasted
in thanks
for the end
of famine.
Special foods prepared for a "St. Joseph's Table" are presented
in an altar-like display; "St. Joseph's pasta," left, is meatless.
seph’s Day Feast at the St. Cletus
church in Gretna, La. “It’s not very
tasty, but we try to make it tasty. We
steam it then make a batter and fry' it”
Fava beans, associated with good
luck because they survived that Si
cilian drought, often are given away
in dried form to bring good fortune.
Elaborate breads are shaped into bib
lical symbols such as fish and Joseph’s
staff. These and the many other fanci
ful foods sometimes are displayed on a
three-tiered altar for
guests to behold.
As for dessert, cel
ebrations generally
include zeppole or
sfinci, fried-dough
confections that are
filled with ricotta, fruit or cream, or
just drizzled with honey.
And no good celebration is complete
without a take-home bag of cookies,
fruit and a fava bean.
Ip San Pedro, Calif., March 9
This is the 35th year of the
feast at Mary Star of the Sea
Parish. The meal includes salad,
pasta fagioli (a thick soup with
pasta, white beans and broccoli),
fried squid and ice cream. The display
altar features even more food. "If you
can think of it, we have it up there,"
says organizer Josephine Accetta.
Buffalo, March 9
This feast is held by the Sisters of
St. Joseph in Clarence, assisted by
a team of volunteers. Frittatas
(Italian-style omelets) some with
cardoons are the big draw. To get
around the lack of meat, there are
"egg balls," made with cheese,
bread crumbs and, of course, eggs.
■4 Lodi, NJ., March 15
The St. Joseph Society organizes
a traditional feast table in March
for the public and hosts a big
festival on Labor Day weekend in
honor of St. Joseph (as the patron
of laborers).
*<*
v i
***&>
benefit the MacDonald Training
Center, which works with people
with disabilities. Some 1,000 Tampa
residents come to feast on pasta,
fish, cardoon patties and sfinci. E 3
Here, a taste of some
of the St. Joseph's Day
celebrations across the
United States:
New Orleans. March 14
About 3,000 people
attend this feast in
Gretna, La., just outside
of New Orleans. (This
holiday is big in the Big
Easy.) On the menu:
fried fish, omelets,
broccoli casserole,
cakes and more.
Tampa, March 19
A local Italian family
has been holding this
massive feast for more
than 30 years, all to
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