19 marzo - Festa del Papà

One of the first things I found out in Canada was the fact that Father’s Day is celebrated in June, instead of March 19. Somebody tried to convince me that the reason for that depended only on the initial letter of the month. Because we celebrate Mother’s day in May, and May is the month of Mary (not my cousin, but Mary the Madonna), the month of June is the selected one to celebrate our fathers.  Based on the “M” philosophy, “J” would be the letter for Joseph.

To be honest with you, that explanation didn’t convince me that much. Why not January, then?

 What about July?  Why? As, being Mary and Joseph a couple, they have to stay together. Could be?

Result? I did my homework and some research to improve my knowledge and show off today!

Let’s start from the beginning. In Italy, Father’s Day is celebrated March 19. In Canada, it is celebrated the third Sunday of June. The initial surprise, soon, became a real shock!

Father’s day, the way we celebrate it today (buying a tie, a new wallet, and all those boring things that no father in the world would love) comes actually from United States.  Can you imagine?

I am Italian so I am used to the fact the everything cool has been invented there (pasta, gelato, mafia, Berlusconi,  sun, good weather, small car, O Sole mio, hand gestures, loudness, stereotypes and so on). You have to agree with me.  Father’s Day invented in USA? The answer is: it sounds so!

 Apparently, the first time it was celebrated in West Virginia in 1908 in a Methodist Church. One year before, hundreds of men had died in an explosion. That was a way to honour and remember all those fathers and, in a spiritual way, a tentative to relieve the grief and sorrow of those who survived.  At least that seems to be the first documented one even though it didn’t have any success out of the village. It was not June, though!

A couple of years later, this celebration was officialised in Washington were a smart and beloved daughter, Miss Sonora Louise Smart Dodd was able to push so hard to obtain it. Why June? Because in June was Mr. Dodd’s birthday! Having said that, my friends, it sounds like we are altogether celebrating Mr Dodd’s birthday!

However, it was only in 1966 that the third Sunday of June was designated to celebrate our fathers.

Well, what about Italy? In Italy, Father’s Day is celebrated on March 19 date in which is honoured the memory of St. Joseph. Because Joseph is considered Jesus’ putative father, that seemed to be the perfect day to honour and celebrate the rest of the fathers.

 

I remember this picture on the wall of my family kitchen at the age of four, five and six. Then we moved and the picture disappeared from my sight, but not from my heart and memories apparently.

The way St. Joseph is celebrated in Italy can be very different depending on the region is taken into consideration. Generally speaking, we can assume that anywhere it is possible to register a certain mixture between a Christian tradition and an older pagan one. Many festivities reviewed by Christianity have ancient origins linked to the old relation between men and the cycle of Nature.

When talking of Italian traditions, language, cuisine in Italy it is always safe to keep in mind that we could find many variants and many historical and social reasons behind those variants depending on the region. Some variants can even differ from one city to another.  To celebrate St. Joseph, indeed, in some villages a feast for the poor is arranged or a “Processione” with the Holy Family; in others, we can have  a feast where 13 virgins are invited, a special bread which is baked to represent some holy figures or just “fruits” of Nature (birds, flowers, etc...).

 

I remember, when I was a child of about 6, 7 that in the suburb of Palermo (Sicily) where I used to live it was part of the tradition to light a high bonfire where old pieces of wood were burnt (Vampa di San Giuseppe). That was definitely deriving from the ancient tradition to burn all the untamed to prepare the land for the summer, for example!

 

It would be too long to go through all the variants we can find. However, the last thing it is worth to be mentioned is the tradition to eat Zeppole or Sfinci.

One day, a Canadian friend asked me if the Zeppole you can buy in an Italian bakery in Toronto were the same sold in Italy. That was an interesting question for me too. I had to realise once again that an answer to an easy question, not necessarily is an easy answer.

The Zeppole I’ve been buying in Toronto are definitely not the one I used to see in the bakeries of Trapani and Palermo. Does it mean that they’re not the original ones? Not at all! That means we are dealing with a variant, the strongest one which was able to cross the ocean and reach Canada together with some immigrants.  The one in Toronto belongs to Campania’s tradition and it is a fried ciambella, dusted with icing sugars (zucchero a velo) and filled with cream. Finally, to end with a bang (per finire in bellezza), three sour black cherries (amarene)should be put on top of it.

 

 

In Sicily, Zeppole di San Giuseppe become Sfinci di San Giuseppe and like the majority of pastries belonging to the Sicilian tradition one of the main ingredients is ricotta cheese. It is interesting to notice that the origin of them, in any case, is really ancient and, once again, they’re only another variant of something that existed in the past. It looks like Romans used to eat a first variant of Zeppole during some celebrations called Liberalia that used to happen in March. On the language side, instead, it is interesting to know that the Sicilian word “Sfinci” has an uncertain etymology and origin. Some think it derives from Latin, some others from Arabic isfang , which means “sponge”.   And this would make perfect sense to me if I consider the history of Sicily!

In conclusion, being immigrants, we had to adjust on this as well? Which one we were supposed to celebrate? The solution came out naturally. My children who are growing up in Canada celebrate it on June. My husband celebrates it, as a son, in March. I celebrate it as a daughter both in March and June. Yes, twice. Canada was so nice to me to offer finally a solution to one of my life-lasting dilemma: I have a father and a step-father. To celebrate them on the same day didn’t make sense to me, it was not easy and most of all I was always feeling guilty towards one of them. Now I celebrate one in March and one in June and, simply, like the rest of the things I decided to live perpetually on a swing: going back and forth (not up and down) between my “italianity” and Canada picking what matters most to me, what is nice, what is just perfect!

With Love,

 

Claudia

Agosto 2005

 

Gennaio 2009