Book of Days Tales

Today is Whit Monday, the day after Pentecost (aka Whitsunday).  Until 1964 Whit Monday was a bank holiday in England, and was the traditional occasion for morris dancing in Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire in the 19^th century. Parliament in the UK was not happy with a bank holiday that moved all over the calendar based on religious traditions, and so decreed that the last Monday in May would be Spring Bank Holiday, and Whit Monday would be a working day, beginning in 1965. Thus, the morris dancers in Bampton, near Oxford, moved their annual day of dancing from Whit Monday to Spring Bank Holiday.

Despite the U.K.’s fickle nature concerning the holiday, Whit Monday continues to be a day off work in dozens of countries across the globe. In the Azores, in particular, it is known as Dia dos Açores (Azores Day), celebrating their autonomy as a political unit, independent of Portugal. Limpets are a common festive dish in the Azores, cooked in a variety of ways, but usually with a paste of the hot pepper Dona Pimentinha which is grown in the archipelago. For example, you can grill limpets by taking off one shell and arranging them, shell side down, on a hot grill and adding to each some chopped garlic, a knob of butter, and a teaspoon of Dona Pimentinha paste. The savory mix will boil and quickly cook the limpet. Do not overcook!!! Limpets get tough if cooked for too long. I find that the pepper paste is essential because I do not care for the taste of limpets.