Feast of St. Joseph Creole-Italian Recipes From New Orleans

Some of the best holidays are celebrated with a wish and cake, but St. Joseph's Day, happening this Friday, March 19, is not what you might expect.

Among the wrought-iron balconies, swaying banana leaves, and river views, Catholic Italian heritage lives on in New Orleans, whose famed French Quarter was once known as “Little Palermo.” The winters roll along with festivities, with Mardi Gras in February, and then the Feast of Saint Joseph.

Just two generations ago, St. Joseph altars laden with Sicilian food specialties filled the homes of New Orleans’ many Italian families. They were so abundant, the newspapers published a special section dedicated to homes with St Joseph altars so that families could plan a day of house calls. That day, they ate fava beans and shrimp roulade and drank marsala wine as they wandered through the neighborhoods with the voices of Louis Prima, Perry Como, and Frank Sinatra playing in the background.

According to Elizabeth Williams, curator and founder of the New Orleans Southern Food & Drink Museum, it was a time filled with the aroma of toasted sesame seeds as her Sicilian grandmother spent days baking hundreds of biscotti to be placed on the altars.

There were plenty of reasons for these rituals. Some were never explained to her, but the most important one was and it involved a wish.

“When I was younger, the whole idea was to ask St. Joe for some kind of favor, and if it was granted, you would make a personal altar as a promise to St Joseph,” she says. “This wasn't like, ‘I’m going to win the lottery kinda thing. It could be, ‘My son will find a job. My sister won't die of cancer,’ or whatever the problem was. It had to be about generosity to others, not for personal gain.”

They celebrated St. Joseph’s Day to remember hard times, a famine, and to recognize the gifts of life during Lent, the Catholic holiday. Williams says in addition to the party—something New Orleanians do like no one else—the feast day was intended for those in need by raising money and delivering food.

In New Orleans today, the altars of St. Joseph are celebrated across the community–not just those with Italian-Catholic heritage. But there’s just one place where the altar is permanent: the Southern Food & Beverage Museum. Williams founded the museum in 2004 to celebrate the stories of food and drink in the Crescent City.

Inside the Sicilian section of the museum, a large altar with a statue of Joseph and Jesus, festooned with white flowers, stands out. Beneath are the sacred dishes intended to be given away and shared: bowls of blessed fava or “lucky beans,” a historic legume that once helped to fight off a historic famine in Sicily, breadcrumbs, a symbol meant to look like wood chips and evocative of Joseph’s carpentry skills and lemons, when held on this day, they communicate an interest in marriage. Platters of sweets like cannoli and seasonal vegetables of artichokes and peppers, cover the three-tiered display.

By understanding these foods, one can understand the cultural exchange that took place when Sicilians arrived in New Orleans from Palermo at the turn of the 19th century to work in the sugar cane fields. Life was difficult, but they managed to leave their mark, especially on menus. Many of New Orleans’ staple creole dishes—a blend of European, African, and Native American cuisines—possess a touch of Mediterranean. Tomato was cooked in with the roux sauce, then spread on New Orleans’ famous Po’ Boy sandwiches. Seasoned bread crumbs were added to stuffed vegetables. Shaved ice granita became the popular snowball dessert now served just about everywhere.

But to keep it more simple, here are the favorite cookie recipes of St. Joseph’s Day and how to make them.

Sesame Biscotti

Makes about 5 dozen cookies

Ingredients

3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup butter
½ cup sugar
2 eggs
grated rind of one lemon
1 tablespoon anise oil or almond oil
½ cup milk
½ lb. untoasted sesame seeds

Method

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together. Add the sugar to the dry ingredients. Work the butter into the dry ingredients with your hands. Add the eggs and continue working the dough until it all comes together.

Add the milk a little at a time. Stop adding the milk if the dough becomes sticky. The amount of milk you need will depend upon the weather.

Roll the dough into snakes about ¾ inches in diameter. Cut into 2 inch long pieces.

Dip the dough into the remaining milk and then dredge in sesame seeds. Press down slightly onto an ungreased cookie sheet.

Cook for 12 to 17 minutes until lightly colored. The cookies should be very very crispy. Remove from cookie sheet and cool thoroughly before placing in an airtight container.

Notes from Elizabeth Williams

My Nana was famous for her sesame seed cookies. She made these cookies using 10 pound sacks of flour. There were sesame seeds all over the kitchen when we made these.

Cuccidati

Ingredients

For the dough:

2 cups flour
¾ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ cup sugar
½ cup unsalted butter, cut into 10 to 12 pieces, very cold
1 small egg
½ tablespoon vanilla
¼ cup cold milk

For the filling:

1 cup dried figs (be sure to cut off remaining stems)
½ cup dates, pitted
½ cup raisins
¼ cup honey
¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ lemon marmalade (you can use orange or mixed citrus marmalade)
½ cup walnuts or almonds, chopped (I like to use pecans, but they are not traditional, since pecans are an American nut)
1 Tbsp. sweet marsala, if needed to loosen filling

For the decorations:

1 cup confectioners sugar
½ cup lemon juice
1 cup water
Colored sprinkles
Makes 24 to 30 cookies.

Method

Preheat the oven to 375^o F. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt and place in a food processor. Add the sugar and pulse 3 to 5 times to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the dough is like sand. Whisk together the egg, vanilla, and milk. Add to the running food processor until the dough just comes together. Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead one or two times and divide the dough into 2 equal pieces. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Meanwhile, make the filling. In the food processor combine the figs, dates, and raisins. Pulse the processor to chop the fruit into small pieces. Add the honey, marmalade, and nuts. Pulse 5 to 7 times to combine. If the filling is very stiff, add the marsala as needed and pulse again.

Remove one piece of dough from the refrigerator. Roll it out on a lightly floured surface to a 3"x8" rectangle. Place half of the filling down the center of the dough lengthwise. Bring the dough up and around the filling to fully encapsulate it, pinching the edges firmly. Cut into 1½ inch pieces and place on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Keep the cookies about an inch apart. Repeat with the other piece of dough. Cook the cookies for 12-15 minutes, until the cookies begin to become golden. They will be drier, but not crisp. Remove them from the oven and allow them to remain on the cookie sheet for about 3 minutes. Then place them on a rack to fully cool.

In the meantime, make the glaze. The glaze is used on most modern cookies, but it is not traditional. It does make it easier for the sprinkles to remain on. In a bowl sift the sugar. Stir in the cup of lemon juice. Thin the glaze with water until it reaches a consistency that allows you to spoon it onto each cookie. The glaze hardens quickly so glaze no more than 3 cookies and then shake on the colored sprinkles. Continue until all of the cookies are decorated. Cookies must be fully cooled before glazing.