There Father's Day and the desire to prepare something good for such an important person in our lives. Original and imaginative dishes, of course, but also ours tradition gastronomic offers us typical specialties to offer to our father, symbols of unsuspected rituals known since ancient times.

Another masterpiece of the nuns

Among these traditional dishes the most famous is certainly made up of zeppole of San Giuseppe Neapolitan, prepared with a mixture of eggs, butter, sugar, flour, water and lemon, fried and enriched by pastry cream and candied cherries (there is also the version al oven type cupcake). It is a reminiscence of the Roman feast of the Liberalia, which was celebrated on March 17 in honor of Bacchus and Silenus, the gods of wine and wheat. To pay homage to them wheat pancakes were prepared, while the wine flowed in rivers: this is probably one of the many "purification rites" at the beginning of the agricultural season. The Neapolitan version, like almost all Neapolitan Christmas cakes and the famous pastiera, was born thanks to the nuns. According to some those of the convent of San Gregorio Armeno, according to others that of Santa Patrizia, or perhaps of the Croce di Lucca or who knows, of Splendor. Certainly the first documentary evidence of St. Joseph's zeppole dates back to 1837, when it was mentioned by the famous Neapolitan gastronomer Ippolito Cavalcanti, Duke of Buonvicino.

The frittellaro of Rome

The same tradition of the Pagan Liberalas is also at the origin of the traditions of the cauliflower fritters or pancakes, to Rome but also in the Lazio and in Umbria. At the Church of San Giuseppe dei Falegnami in the Forum, in particular, in the past the Carpenter brotherhood organized solemn celebrations and banquets based on pancakes and cream puffs, from which the Roman saying “San Giuseppe frittellaro".

Lombard tortelli …

In Lombardy the heirs of the Roman fritters are i tortelli di San Giuseppe, simple balls prepared with a mixture of flour, eggs, sugar, yeast and milk, fried and sprinkled with vanilla sugar.

… and the Bolognese ravioli

TO Bologna Father's Day is the day of raviole of San Giuseppe, a sort of sweet ravioli prepared with a mixture similar to shortcrust (rich in butter) and with a filling of jam or Bolognese mustard (sweet mixture based on quince, pears, oranges, sugar and just a pinch of mustard). Everything, then, to be baked in the oven. As you can see, here the fried food disappears but not the origin of this dessert. At one time, in fact, braids of San Giuseppe raviole they adorned all the hedges that they were between Trebbo di Castelmaggiore and Fiesso di Castenaso, and everyone could take: it was the signal that winter was ending, and that it was time to get back to work in the fields.

Tasty balls

In Tuscany the father is celebrated with the Fried Rice: They're preparing boiling water, rice, milk and lemon peel, with the subsequent addition of sugar. Once dried, the mixture is left to rest overnight, after which it is enriched with egg yolks, raisins, liqueur, vanillin and yeast: many small balls are prepared that come fried. It is also here a derivation of the ancient Roman pancake, widespread especially in Siena and described as early as the fifteenth century in the Book of art coquinaria of Martino da Como.

The Salentine tables

Do others have a dish? Very well, in Salento San Giuseppe is even celebrated with a huge one buffet: the Table of Saint Joseph. To which at least 3 guests (the Holy Family) must be invited, up to a maximum of 13 (the Last Supper). Tradition requires that they be prepared 13 dishes for each saint, for a total of 169 dishes! Perhaps the dish-symbol of the anniversary is however mass and ciciri (pasta and chickpeas), but also the pasta with honey and the fried fish (still the fries …).

A broad bean cream

Also in the Salentine tables, typical dishes include net beans, broad bean cream topped with garlic, onion and extra virgin olive oil and accompanied by wild chicory.

The zippulis of Reggio

The Reggio version of the zeppole is called “zippuli ca'ricotta". They are prepared with farina, sugar, eggs, vanilla, lard and stuffed with ricotta, sugar, cinnamon, grated lemon and icing sugar.

The Sicilian version

In Sicily the donuts are prepared with a dough of flour, rice, orange honey and icing sugar. They have a cylindrical shape and are fried and then covered with orange honey, icing sugar and cinnamon.

The greedy sfinci

In Sicily, in addition to the zeppole, for Father's Day you can also eat the sfinci of San Giuseppe, very similar to the Neapolitan zeppole but with one sheep's milk ricotta cream, sugar and dark chocolate drops (similar to that of cannoli). The sfinci come fried in lard and then decorated with chopped pistachios and orange peel and candied cherries.

of Massimo Lanari

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