Book of Days Tales

The 1^st of May is a global celebration in one guise or other. It is May Day in England and  Walpurga’s Day in Germanic countries, typically celebrated more on the Eve than the day itself. In Celtic traditions, especially Ireland, it is one of four quarter days – Beltane – which  was not historically associated with an exact date, but in modern times it has been pegged specifically to May 1. It is International Workers’ Day throughout Europe, Asia, South America, and beyond, and, as befits the theme, it is the feast of Joseph the Worker in the Roman Catholic tradition.  Celebrate in whatever fashion appeals to you.  I am going to honor Joseph.

Joseph is first mentioned in the gospels of Luke and Matthew as the (legal) father of Jesus. He is described in Matthew as a ” tektōn ” (τέκτων) which has been traditionally translated into English as “carpenter” but is a rather general word (from the same root (τέχνη – skill/craft) that gives us “technical” and “technology”) that could cover makers of objects in various materials. He could have been a wood carver, blacksmith, jewelry maker, etc. In the Septuagint the Greek noun tektōn either stands for the generic Hebrew noun kharash (חרש), “craftsman,” (as Isaiah 41:7) or tekton xylon (τέκτων ξύλον) as a word-for-word rendering of kharash-‘etsim (חָרַשׁ עֵצִים) “craftsman of woods.” (as Isaiah 44:13). To be brutally honest, we have no idea who the father of Jesus was. Luke and Matthew were following oral sources of unknown/dubious origin for their own reasons.  But I’ll follow tradition for now. 

The Sicilian dish maccu ri san giuseppi (or in Italian maccu di san giuseppe) is a poor soup featuring fava beans for good fortune (and no meat), that is made to honor Joseph:

Ingredients:

10 oz/300 gm shelled dry fava beans
8 oz/200 gm shelled dried peas
4 oz/100 gm dried chickpeas
6 oz/150 gm dried beans
4 oz/100 gm lentils
2 bunches of borage (or spinach or chard), chopped
¾ oz/20 gm fennel seeds
1 frond (lacy top) fennel
1 medium-sized onion, peeled and diced
2 sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
extra virgin olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
croutons made by dicing day-old bread and sautéing the pieces in olive oil

Instructions:

Set all the legumes except the lentils, which cook quickly, to soak in lightly salted water the night before.

The next day drain them and set all the legumes to boil in a big pot of lightly salted water with pepper to taste, adding the onion, tomatoes, and greens after about two hours. Continue simmering for another hour or two, making sure the legumes are fully cooked.

Check the seasoning, and serve over the croutons, with a cruet of extra virgin olive oil for people to drizzle over their soup.