Zeppole di San Giuseppe, Neapolitan pastry

There are recipes so simple that it seems incredible that the result can be so exceptional. Among these recipes, we can find the Zeppole di San Giuseppe, Neapolitan pastry. Pieces made with choux pastry, filled with pastry cream and topped with an Amarena cherry. Three simple elements that give rise to a fabulous piece of pastry.

When it came to making these pieces, I found two ways to cook them; fried and baked. In my case, I chose to bake them since in my house, almost nobody eats sweets and, in the end, I consume most of them myself. Baked products always tolerate the passage of time better than those that are fried. But I have no doubt that their fried version, like pan-fried fruits, must be exceptional.

Zeppole di San Giuseppe origin.

Zeppole di San Giuseppe is a traditional Neapolitan dessert that is usually eaten around March 19th. They are traditionally considered desserts for Father’s Day. Certainly, it is not Father’s Day and there is still a long way to go. But, I am of the opinion that we should not deprive ourselves of delicacies like this under any circumstances. Any day is a good day to enjoy one of these wonders.

It won’t be the first time that, in my house, we eat Roscón de Reyes in August or September… And they taste great.

As is the case with many of the desserts and elaborations that have left their mark throughout the history of pastry making, the origin of zeppoles is also shrouded in various legends going back to very ancient traditions. In fact, it is believed that this sweet has its roots in 500 B.C., during the Liberalia celebrations in Rome. These festivities took place on March 17 and were dedicated to honoring Bacchus and Silenus, deities associated with wine and wheat.

The Liberalia were an occasion to give thanks to these deities for their influence on the production of wine and wheat, two fundamental elements in Roman life. During these celebrations, rituals were performed that included drinking large quantities of wine, as well as the consumption of special foods, such as the aforementioned “wheat pancakes fried in hot lard“. These festivities had a playful character and often involved dancing, music and fun.

The date of March 17 coincided with the beginning of spring in the Roman calendar, which added a symbolic meaning to these festivities by marking the rebirth of nature.

Other sources relate the creation of the zeppoles to agricultural purification rites.

This festival was celebrated in the southern regions on March 19 and commemorated the end of winter and the arrival of spring. It was a tradition to light bonfires and share a kind of snake-shaped pancake rolled up on itself (hence its similarity to the shape of a doughnut) and covered with honey.

However, a Christian legend attributes the creation of the zeppoles to the flight of the Holy Family to Egypt. It tells that St. Joseph, in addition to his work as a carpenter, became a peddler of sweet pancakes in order to support Mary and Jesus. From this legend seems to arise the connection between the zeppoles and the festivity in honor of the saint, as well as the tradition of the street zeppolari of Naples.

Pasquale Pintauro, a pastry chef who ran a historic establishment in Naples, “La confectionery Pintauro“, well known for its tradition of making zeppoles and being an emblematic place to taste this delicious pastry. Until the appearance of his shop, they used to set up small benches in front of their stores, where they fried and served zeppoles directly to passers-by in the street.

Goethe, on his visit to Naples in the late 1700s, wrote: “Today was also the feast of St. Joseph, patron saint of all the frittaroli, that is, sellers of fried dough… On the thresholds of the houses , large pans were placed on the hearths in an improvised manner. One child worked the dough, another handled it and made doughnuts that he threw into the boiling oil, a third, near the pan, took out with a small skewer the doughnuts that were gradually cooked and, with another skewer, passed them to a fourth child, who offered them to passers-by …”.

The name “zeppola” probably derives from the term “serpula”, which means snake.

Others, however, argue that the name derives from zeppa, from the Latin cippus, which in Naples is identified with the wooden stop placed to correct measurement defects in furniture. Undoubtedly, a reference to the profession of St. Joseph.

Other theories are found linking the zeppole with the cymbala(m), a river boat with a flat bottom and rounded end similar to the shape of a donut. Over time, through a series of linguistic modifications, cymbala became zippula, giving rise to the term zeppola.

Another hypothesis relates its etymological root to saeptula, from saepio, girdle, a term that generically designated round-shaped objects. There is also a reference to Zi’ Paolo, name of the supposed Neapolitan fryer, who some consider the inventor of the street zeppola.

But the history of zeppole di San Giuseppe officially began in 1837.

The dessert began to take the form we know today around 1700. It is possible that it was the nuns of Splendore and Croce of Lucca or those of San Basilio of the Monastery of San Gregorio Armeno who prepared this conventual dessert.

It was when the Neapolitan gastronome Ippolito Cavalcanti, Duke of Buonvicino, included the first official recipe in Neapolitan language in one of his cooking treatises, “Theoretical-Practical Cuisine“. Some of the ingredients included in the preparation were flour, water, a little aniseed liqueur, Marsala, salt, sugar and oil for frying.

Although it seems that the first recipe of the current Neapolitan zeppole pasta is the work of the famous Pintauro, legendary “creator” of the Neapolitan Sfogliatella.

Pintauro based himself on the ancient Roman version and following Cavalcanti’s advice, he created the current zeppole. A dough enriched with eggs, lard and flavored and then fried twice, first in oil and then in lard. It was then filled with pastry cream and decorated with a black cherry or Amarena cherry.

At present, you can find the variety that I leave you, its baked version.

Lighter than the original, but in which we surely lose part of its essence. The dean of the Neapolitan artisan pastry, Mario Scaturchio, says; “The real zeppola di San Giuseppe is only fried!“. According to the famous Neapolitan pastry chef, the zeppole must be fried exclusively in lard.

Zeppole di San Giuseppe are undoubtedly part of the Neapolitan tradition, but they are also prepared in other areas of Italy. As in Salento, where they are fried or baked and filled with cream or chocolate. In Sicily, more citrus flavors predominate, an addition of rice flour is used in the dough and they are usually covered with an orange honey topping. In Calabria, on the other hand, a zeppola is prepared with a filling of ricotta, sugar, cinnamon and lemon zest. Very similar to sfogliatella.

As I mentioned at the beginning, I have not been a faithful follower of the traditional process. In my case I have opted for the baked version, but if you wish, you can follow the process as I detail you only that instead of baking, you must fry the zeppoles.