The Pastries of La Festa di San Giuseppe: Roots to Italian sweet foodways

Abstract

Pastries and desserts hold an important place in Italian cuisine. They are more symbols of culture than sugary treats to savor, imbued with religious, mystical, and historic significance. This significance appears during holidays, family events, and festivals, such as feast days honoring patron saints. With Italy's long-standing tradition of distinct regional cuisines, the festival foods differ from place to place, though common traits link them to the season and holiday. Breads and pastries in unique and meaningful forms are a major part of festival traditions and their regional variations illustrate local heritage, typical ingredients, and cooking traditions. Examining the roots of the sweet foodways of La Festa di San Giuseppe in two southern Italian locales, Sicily and Naples reveals much about Italian food history and the evolutionary influence at the hands of invaders, courts, and peasants. Consumption patterns based on scarcity and annual feasting reserved for church holidays are illustrated by the rituals of this feast day. Regional identity is expressed through place-specific recipes, ingredient use, and cooking methods. Sustenance issues also surface though the liturgical calendar that allows for the occasional splurges that were once rare moments of abundance, a break from incessant hunger, and an opportunity for a community to feed itself and its poor. Sweets play an important part in the conception of abundance and celebration, serving as special treats consumed once a year, marking a meal as a festive one, spent with family and community in common observance of a holiday or special event. This group consumption reinforces social ties, creates common memories and defines regional practices while also elevating the status of pastries and desserts and honoring the cooks and saints that make this consumption possible. A seemingly unremarkable feast day gives a piece of fried dough much meaning to a local person, reflecting regional identity while celebrating abundance.