Celebrating St. Joe: A feast for the eyes and 'buds 

Torontosun.com
March 6, 2014
By Rita DeMontis

The Irish may have St. Patrick's Day, but for Italians it's all about celebrating St. Joe or La Festa di San Giuseppe (Saint Joseph's Day), as March 19 is referred to. This Catholic feast day is in honour of the Virgin Mary's husband, who is also the patron saint of carpenters. In Italy, his name day is huge, and there's not a shop that doesn't pay homage to him.

People named Joseph--Giuseppe --(or Josephine, for that matter) are especially lucky if their birthdays fall on March 19 as everyone reaches out with congratulations even bigger than birthday celebrations.

How do we define the day? With the zeppole! No, not a British rock band but a special dessert made with choux pastry and an utterly divine cream filling. I have seen them being sold in mainstream food stores and supermarkets--just saw them recently at my local Loblaws at the Humbertown plaza -- and, just as it's important to wear green on St. Patrick's day, so is the eating of this cream-infused zeppole. "You can't have St. Joseph's Day without the zeppole," says Sal Mucio Sr., of Messina Bakery on 17 Scarlett Rd., where this iconic treat is made the old-fashioned way, by hand with real eggs, real cream, crowned with the special Morello cherries.

Every bakery has its own riff on the zeppole--some are baked, some are fried, some have cream while others opt for ricotta, depending on where you go and the history of the baker. Pastry chef Anthony Macri of Sweet Boutique, for example, on 471 Jevlan Dr., in Woodbridge ( Sweetboutique.ca)has been furiously busy creating dozens of types of this special dessert and many anxious customers put in special orders days ahead of the March 19 celebration date.

Wherever you purchase your zeppole, you know it's stamped with the personality of the baker who created it. They're all delicious! And this is as good a time as any to be an ordinary Joe and go and enjoy a zeppole or two.