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St. Jospeh Day Table

in The Too Busy to Diet Blog on March 22, 2017

St. Joseph Day Table

St. Joseph Day is celebrated each year on March 19th. In Spain, Portugal, and Italy Father’s Day is also on St. Joseph’s Day.

St. Joseph is celebrated as the father of Jesus, husband of Mary, and is also known as being a carpenter in the Catholic, Lutheran, and Anglican faiths. In Sicily, St. Joseph is celebrated as its patron saint.

During the Middle Ages, people prayed to St. Joseph to prevent famine due to the severe drought at the time. They promised to prepare a large feast to honor him if he brought rain. When the rain came, they prepared a banquet in his honor. The fava bean was the staple that provided them with nutrition. It is found on altars and tables on St Joseph Day. My friend from Italy told me that fava beans mean,” Remember where you came from”. Because so many people lost everything during the famine, the fava bean provided them with sustenance during hard times. At the St. Joseph feast that I attended, donations were given to the poor. It is a typical practice at most St. Joseph feasts.

In my family and my husband’s, Joseph is a popular name. I was supposed to be called Josephine after my grandmother, but my parents did not like the name and called me Jacqueline as a “supposed variation” of the name. We have a total of nine family members with either their first or middle name Joseph.

Food served at the St. Joseph table include bread, fish, vegetables, salads, pasta, and orzo dishes. Desserts include zeppole that is a fried pastry filled with ricotta cheese. Other desserts include cannoli, chocolate desserts, and cookies. Meat is not served because the holiday falls during Lent when fish is eaten every Friday.

If you have the opportunity to go to a St. Joseph table do not pass up the opportunity. It is a great cultural experience and you might decide to make some of the dishes.

Jacqueline King, MS, RDN, CDE, FADA
Author: Too Busy to Diet
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