Italians must be the world champions of celebrations. There seems to be a festa (party) or a celebration for just about every occasion - saint’s days, onomastic (name) days, major religious holidays, national holidays, birthdays, sagras to celebrate regional foods. When you live in Italy, you festiggiare (celebrate) all of life’s special events. It is one of the things I love about living here. As an added bonus, many of these events include special foods. And although the pandemic has for the last year limited gathering for most of these events, small celebrations and culinary specialities continue to mark the occasions.

March is generally a quiet month in terms of celebrations. Epiphany is long over, the Carnevale season has ended (and this year it was cancelled almost entirely), Easter is not yet here. Food wise, the Carnevale sweets are gone and Easter cakes and chocolates are just beginning to show up in shop windows.

But all is not lost! In mid-March there is the Feast Day of San Giuseppe. It is the official onomastic day for the name Giuseppe and so a special day for anyone who carries that moniker. Because of San Giuseppe’s religious role as a father, the Feast of San Giuseppe has also become the Italian Father’s day. And … falling on March 19th it is also on the cusp of the spring equinox. Certainly this day deserves a special culinary treat!

To mark the day, pastry shops across Lucca are filled with Frittelle di San Giuseppe. Frittelle are delicious! A sweet batter, often flavored with a bit of lemon peel, is dropped by spoonfuls into hot oil (fritta = fried), filled, and then rolled in sugar. The traditional filling in Lucca is riso (a second cousin to rice pudding but more firm). Other varieties include chocolate, Nutella, and (my personal favorite) a delicious pastry cream. Some are vuoto (empty) with no filling to distract from the sugary treat.

It was hard work having to taste test frittelle before writing about them, but I made the sacrifice. Crisp on the outside with a slight crunch from the sugar crystals, airy dough on the inside, and a delicious eggy custard filling. Scrumptious. In fact, I just may need another one to go with my coffee this afternoon. I think I’ll invite a friend to share !