St. Joseph's Day Pastries from The Italian Store in Arlington, Va.

Yesterday was St. Joseph's Day and Italian Father's Day. We made it over to The Italian Store in Arlington, Va., for the pastries traditionally eaten on the holiday. While I'd only known the cream filled, fried zeppole, they had three choices for the holiday: sfogliatelle, zeppole and genovese. 

These pastries are so popular that we will place our order early next year because they were already out of zeppole when we arrived for lunch. My husband and I each tried a genovese - a buttery, warm pastry filled with cream dotted with chocolate. Delicious! Since there were more zeppole coming in that afternoon - from New York! - we placed an order for two zeppole and returned that evening for our second round of pastries. 

The pastries were a steep $4.99 each. If they need to be ordered from New York, clearly there's a local market here. Who's ready to open a local, Italian bakery?

zeppole

genovese

D.C. Pastry Alert: St. Joseph's Day Pastries @ The Italian Store in Arlington

Cannoli and pastry cream filled Zeppole di San Giuseppe from The Italian Store in Arlington, Va.

I clapped when The Italian Store’s salesperson said they carry St. Joseph’s Day pastries today. These hard to find (at least outside of NY/Northern NJ) are, hands down, some of my favorite pastries. The salesperson smiled with her own pastry joy.

The Zeppole di San Giuseppe are a traditional specialty from southern Italy. The Italian Store prepared them with both cannoli (ricotta) cream and pastry cream. To make them yourself, watch a chef from the Academia Barilla prepare them (fried, with an option to bake).

The holiday celebrates the feast day of St. Joseph, the husband of the Virgin Mary, according to Catholic tradition. For this reason, it is also the Italian Father's Day. And there's one more reason to celebrate: For those named Giuseppe, today is their onomastico (name day, like another birthday.)

I Heart Zeppole

Little fried balls of dough, they can be found at every fair, Italian-American festival and boardwalk “down the shore” in New Jersey. The dough might be a little sweet, but not terribly different from pizza dough. They are made to order and then put in a paper bag that absorbs the grease (and stains your shirt, if you are unlucky.) You can add powdered sugar or do what my mom and I do: add salt. Hold the bag tightly closed with your fist then shake it hard so that each ball is perfectly covered in sugar or salt. Be sure to eat them while they are hot.

I cannot find zeppole in Michigan or nearby. While Ann Arbor offers everything a girl needs to live, eat, and cook, the zeppole are missing. I’ve searched street fairs (like the enormous Art Fair), the State Fair close to Detroit and even the Italian Festival in nearby Toronto. No zeppole. You can find zeppole-like items: fried elephant ears or funnel cakes. Not the same. They are always too sweet for me.

In Atlantic City this fall for a Tiziano Ferro concert, my mom and I found zeppole. Forging dinner, we got a big plate of freshly made ones. I think I ate enough to get me through this second year in Michigan. Next summer, though, I’ll be due for more.

I’ve never had much success frying at home. My husband, voting for good health and a long life, doesn’t think we should have a fryer at home. I’m a little nervous using an old fashioned pot of hot oil without a temperature gauge. So, we’ve decided that some things are better eaten out. If only we can find them.
Zeppole are a very southern Italian dish (much like pizza and many of the Italian dishes that made it early on to the USA.) According to Wikipedia, they are essentially the donut to the St. Joseph’s pastry, which I would argue against.

My maternal grandmother’s family hails from Sala Consilina (SA), a place I’ve visited a number of times (and admittedly, never seen a zeppola.) In a cookbook I picked up there, La Riscoperta degli Antichi Sapori: Ricette traditionale del Vallo di Diano, zeppole are made with white flour, olive oil, rosemary, mandarin peel and salt. That sounds right.

If you wanted to try to make zeppole at home, here is a sweet-looking recipe from Bon Appétit.
If you know where we can find them close to Ann Arbor, please, please, please let us know.