~Blog Post 2~
April 13, 2015
by Mike Robinson
Having a catholic population of 96% catholic, catholic feast days are major events in Italy. For example, St. Joseph’s Day on March 19 is a widely celebrated saint feast day. Similar to America’s St. Patrick’s Day, on St. Joseph’s Day mostly all schools are closed. Saint Joseph is not only celebrated for his involvement in Jesus’ life, but also a medieval belief. At this point in time, Sicily was going through a legendary drought where millions of citizens flocked to the church and prayed to Saint Joseph for the end to the drought. Once the drought eventually ended, all the credit went to St. Joseph for saving the country’s crops. Traditionally, fava beans can be seen on a pasta dish as it was one of the few crops not affected by the drought. In addition, wild fennel and chick peas also will be served since it was one of the few plants available to the Italians during the drought. Lastly famous Italian deserts such as Zeppole or pignolatta are served to wrap up this blessed memorial. Another famous Italian food festival is the Ladispoli artichoke festival. Originated in 1951, this festival is celebrated during the second week of April. Why dedicate a whole festival to a vegetable? The original purpose was to help popularize the artichoke which is highly rooted in this Roman town. Hundreds of people gather in the city of Ladispoli entering in their own artichoke recipe to a contest. The festival usually has athletic races, musical bands, and a conference on the finances and agriculture of this vegetable. For the event, restaurants generally change their menu to artichoke based dishes. From Saint feast days to a whole festival dedicated to artichokes, Italians always are able to use a feast as a way to gather up the community.
http://www.deliciousitaly.com/lazio-rome-food-wine/ladispoli-artichoke-festival
http://www.lifeinitaly.com/heritage/st-joseph-day.asp
Personally I grew up in an Italian house hold even though I myself am not Italian. I still love the celebration of St. Joseph day and all the sweet treat that are only made on St. Joseph day. Never knew that St. Joseph was the one preyed to save the land from the drought. With the population being ninety six percent catholic I can only imagine how far those prayers went. I was surprised to hear about an artichoke festival in Italy. I hope you bring in a food that involves artichokes because it seems we just missed the celebration. I am curious of what type of recipes that they come up for the contest they hold. I also didn't realize that artichokes had their roots in Italy.
ReplyDelete