St. Joseph, the husband of Mary and the earthly father of Jesus, is said to be the patron saint of home, family and laborers. His Feast Day is celebrated on his birthday: March 19th. It's a Sicilian tradition to make Fritelles or Fried Dough on that day. Depending on the region of Italy you are from, they may be called zeppole, or sfinges instead. For an interesting picture collage of fried doughs from all over the world, click here.
My Nonna always used her homemade raised bread dough to make Fritelles, as did my Mom, but I've found that the frozen Rhodes bread dough works quite well....and is way easier!
All you do is tear off about 2 inch pieces of the raised, raw dough, and fry them quickly in about a 1/2 inch of hot canola oil. Drain them on paper towels, then roll them in granulated sugar. My Mom often tucked raisins into the raw dough before frying. I make one batch with raisins for the boys, and one plain batch for Jim. One bite into the sugary, doughy delicacy will have you hooked. They rarely have time to cool before they've all disappeared...no matter how many I make!
Whenever I fry them up, I'm transported back into time......standing in my Nonna's or my Mother's kitchen, swinging my tanned legs back-and-forth, long curls flying, licking every last bit of the sugary coating off each of my fingers, begging for "just one more".
I continued the tradition by frying up batches of Fritelles for the boys on Sunday mornings in March before mass all the years they were growing up. It's a tradition that we continue to this day.....whether it's just Jim and I, or the boys, Jackie, and the grandchildren. Fried Memories at their finest~
Buon Giorno di San Giuseppe – Happy St. Joseph’s Day!
11 comments:
The Sicilians sure know how to celebrate! Those Fritelles look awesomely delicious. Good to hear you enjoyed St. Joseph's feast day.
Yummy! Do you hide these in the vegetable bin too? ;)
Not fair! I haven't had dinner yet and I'm starving! :)
Well that looks too yummy!
I love family traditions. Thank you for sharing your with us here.
Blessings to you.
I haven't had those since I was a little girl . . . now you got me craving :)
When I was in the Caribbean there were treats like this called bakes. I tried to reproduce then once home but somethings are never the same.
Thanks for sharing the tradition.
Happy St. Joseph's Day to you! The Fritelles look wonderful!
My Mom always made these and she was as Scottish as a Highland Lass born and bred...don't know where she learned to make fried bread, but we'd rather have that than a doughnut! Thanks so much for bringing back a wonderful memory!
Sandi
That sounds so gooood! What a wonderful tradition! I think I'll try this at Easter time. Is that dough at the grocery store???
They look yummy!!Keep up the tradition, it's sad when they stop.
Hi Carol,
Growing up in Youngstown we called them fried dough and would buy them at the grocery store bakeries. I am Slovak and Croation but I love Italian foods. Thanks for the recipe. I'm going to make them the next time I have a family brunch.
Sam
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