This month, on March 19, Catholics around the world will celebrate The Feast of St. Joseph. This lesser-known holiday dates back to the Middle Ages during a famine in Sicily. The faithful Catholic Sicilians prayed to Italy’s patron saint, Saint Joseph, to intercede with God to help them through the famine. When the harvests in Sicily were once again plentiful, people wanted to pay homage to St. Joseph by setting up altars filled with food in thanksgiving. The altars were also a way of sharing food as a community and providing for those in need.
For centuries, Sicilians continued this tradition. People spent days baking bread to be blessed at the altar, along with making many other baked goods, pastries and cookies, since St. Joseph is the patron saint of bakers. St. Joseph alters typically include dishes with artichokes, lemons, oranges and pasta dishes—thanks to their Italian heritage. Other dishes include the use of breadcrumbs, which symbolize wood shavings, as St. Joseph was known to be a carpenter.
U.S. cities that have a large population of those with Sicilian ancestry, like New Orleans, still erect St. Joseph altars today. Here are some of my favorite Sicilian-inspired recipes with a south Louisiana twist that are typically offered for this Lenten-time feast.
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On the menu
Italian Stuffed Artichokes
Arancini
Italian Sesame Seed Cookies
This article was originally published in the March 2024 issue of 225 magazine.