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Jey on St. Joseph's Day: Father's Day in Italy, with zeppole Cristiano on St. Joseph's Day: Father's Day in Italy, with zeppole Antonella on St. Joseph's Day: Father's Day in Italy, with zeppole Marilyn Dowler on St. Joseph's Day: Father's Day in Italy, with zeppole Bonita on St. Joseph's Day: Father's Day in Italy, with zeppole To comment on any posting, click on the word 'Comments' at the end of the item. |
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« Images of Tuscany | Main | House Blessings » March 17, 2006St. Joseph's Day: Father's Day in Italy, with zeppoleI've been getting a little confused. Everywhere I go I see T-shirts and coffee cups with the words Festa del papa (which most easily translates as "Father's Day") written all over them.
This Sunday, March 19th, Italians celebrate St. Joseph's Day and appropriately parallel it with Father's Day. I asked some of my Italian friends if there is any festa in June, but that appears to be an American thing. So, it looks like my Dad gets double the gifts this year. The common treat for the Festa del Papa are the zeppole. Coffee shops and pasticcerie (pastry shops) sell these sweet, deep-fried rings of dough topped with confectionary sugar. (No filling, no cherry.) Between these and pasta, I have no idea how Italians continue to stay so thin. Posted by Kelsea CommentsRemembering St. Joseph's in RI..is zeppoles for me. Those are more flaky and filled with cream. Yummy. Just got back from Italy on Thursday after two weeks. All the different regions cook typical meals from that region. The food is always fabulous, but very different. I have to say..Rhode Island, by far, has some of the most delicious food of anywhere I have ever travelled. The italian bread in RI has surpassed any bread I have eaten anywhere, including Italy! I don't live there anymore, but visit regularly. The two things I miss the most, the smell of the Ocean in RI, and the food! Did I mention hot wieners??? Posted by: Bonita at March 18, 2006 9:44 AM I just LOVE zeppoles. We look forward every year to March l9th, just for these wonderful pastries, and we are not even Italian. Yummy yum. Wish we could buy them all year round Posted by: Marilyn Dowler at March 18, 2006 9:33 PM I lived in Italy for 10 years (my parents are from Italy) and St. Joseph's day is celebrated with FRIED pastries with sugar (granulated or confectionary) - exactly as you described it. In Italy, these fried pastries are called ZEPPOLE. I have never seen the pastry types (the ones with the filling) in Italy. Those could actually be Sfogliatelle - another type of pastry found in Italy - and they are made much more differently than they are here. They are also not eaten on St. Joseph Day. I have no idea what these creme-filled pastries are that I see in RI bakeries during St. Joseph's Day. They do not exist in Italy and they are certainly not called Zeppole. In Italy, fried pastry (or "fried dough" as they are called here) are called Zeppole - and that is what is eaten on St. Joseph's Day. Unfortunately, this is another example of how Italian-Americans misconstrue our Italian culture. And just for the record - meatballs don't exist in Italy either - neither do names like "Vinny" or the typical mafioso-stereotypes so hyped up in shows like Soprano. My friends in Italy always laughing at Italian-Americans - they don't understand where these misconceptions come from! When people think of Italy - think Europe. Not spaghetti & meatballs. Posted by: Antonella at March 19, 2006 2:40 PM The Zeppole di San Giuseppe are different from the Zeppole that some readers are describing. The Zeppole in RI bakeries (and everywhere else in Italo-America) originate from Naples and the South in general and are authentic. They exist today in Italy. For PROOF that the RI Zeppole is authentic, check out the picture on this Italian website: http://www.cucinaconme.it/zeppole_san_giuseppe.htm Posted by: Cristiano at March 20, 2006 2:13 PM For one not born nor raised Catholic, or even christian, and being embarrassingly ignorant of many saints, celebrations, and the like; I must admit that it took me a good while to figure out why exactly father's day celebrations would be appropriate for St. Joseph... I mean, there must be a lot of St. Josephs, right. Of course I figuratively hit myself over the head when I realized the St. Joseph in question is one even I in my ignorance know very well: Jesus's dad. So happy father's day! ps. anyone wishing to ship some Zeppole from either RI or Italy out here to Alaska? Posted by: Jey at March 21, 2006 4:41 AM |
Fearing that I had forgotten to salute my Dad on his designated day, I took a look at my calendar to get it straight. Sure enough, Father's Day is still scheduled for June 18th, so what's going on?
Kelsea Brennan-Wessels is a sophomore at The American University of Rome |
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Comments
Remembering St. Joseph's in RI..is zeppoles for me. Those are more flaky and filled with cream. Yummy. Just got back from Italy on Thursday after two weeks. All the different regions cook typical meals from that region. The food is always fabulous, but very different. I have to say..Rhode Island, by far, has some of the most delicious food of anywhere I have ever travelled. The italian bread in RI has surpassed any bread I have eaten anywhere, including Italy! I don't live there anymore, but visit regularly. The two things I miss the most, the smell of the Ocean in RI, and the food! Did I mention hot wieners???
Posted by: Bonita | March 18, 2006 9:44 AM
I just LOVE zeppoles. We look forward every year to March l9th, just for these wonderful pastries, and we are not even Italian. Yummy yum. Wish we could buy them all year round
Posted by: Marilyn Dowler | March 18, 2006 9:33 PM
I lived in Italy for 10 years (my parents are from Italy) and St. Joseph's day is celebrated with FRIED pastries with sugar (granulated or confectionary) - exactly as you described it. In Italy, these fried pastries are called ZEPPOLE. I have never seen the pastry types (the ones with the filling) in Italy. Those could actually be Sfogliatelle - another type of pastry found in Italy - and they are made much more differently than they are here. They are also not eaten on St. Joseph Day. I have no idea what these creme-filled pastries are that I see in RI bakeries during St. Joseph's Day. They do not exist in Italy and they are certainly not called Zeppole. In Italy, fried pastry (or "fried dough" as they are called here) are called Zeppole - and that is what is eaten on St. Joseph's Day. Unfortunately, this is another example of how Italian-Americans misconstrue our Italian culture. And just for the record - meatballs don't exist in Italy either - neither do names like "Vinny" or the typical mafioso-stereotypes so hyped up in shows like Soprano. My friends in Italy always laughing at Italian-Americans - they don't understand where these misconceptions come from! When people think of Italy - think Europe. Not spaghetti & meatballs.
Posted by: Antonella | March 19, 2006 2:40 PM
The Zeppole di San Giuseppe are different from the Zeppole that some readers are describing. The Zeppole in RI bakeries (and everywhere else in Italo-America) originate from Naples and the South in general and are authentic. They exist today in Italy. For PROOF that the RI Zeppole is authentic, check out the picture on this Italian website:
http://www.cucinaconme.it/zeppole_san_giuseppe.htm
Posted by: Cristiano | March 20, 2006 2:13 PM
For one not born nor raised Catholic, or even christian, and being embarrassingly ignorant of many saints, celebrations, and the like; I must admit that it took me a good while to figure out why exactly father's day celebrations would be appropriate for St. Joseph... I mean, there must be a lot of St. Josephs, right. Of course I figuratively hit myself over the head when I realized the St. Joseph in question is one even I in my ignorance know very well: Jesus's dad. So happy father's day!
ps. anyone wishing to ship some Zeppole from either RI or Italy out here to Alaska?
Posted by: Jey | March 21, 2006 4:41 AM