Celebrations: Father's Day March 19
Father's day is celebrated on St. Joseph's day, Jesus' father, with various dishes around Italy,
San Giuseppe, St. Joseph’s Day, March 19th is probably one of my favorite holidays. In Florence, we celebrate with sweet rice fritters called Frittelle di Riso. Siena and Montefioralle have stands for the holiday, and all the pastry shops continue making the fritters they started at Carnevale, from Lent to Father’s Day.
In the southern part of Italy, both Puglia and Sicily have a wonderful savory pasta dish. In Puglia, it’s made with the anchovies in a jar or anchovy paste. Still, in Sicily, it’s made with fresh anchovies or sardines in addition to the jarred ones added at the beginning and melted into the olive oil.
Salt-cured anchovies are Italy’s umami. They are addictive once you have had them here. They are meaty and melt in the hot oil, creating a wonderful essence to any sauce. I adore a good marinated anchovy served on a piece of toasted bread slathered in cold butter or on a pizza. You can buy anchovies and sardines prepared and packed in oil or salt, that need to be soaked first to remove the salt.
There is also a liquid from preparing the anchovies in the wooden barrels in the village outside of Naples, Cetara called Colatura. They drizzle it on the pasta, prepared with the garlic, olive oil and chili sauce, instead of adding anchovies.
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This week’s recipe for Father’s Day- a video lesson with recipe PDF
On my first trip with clients, in 2008, there was a food festival and I saw a demo of this recipe Palermo style.
Since then, I have picked up many versions! My favorite gift from a trip is to cook for someone with a new recipe I have learned.