Last year at this time I was working on a feature article on seasonal breads and couldn’t find any St. Joseph’s bread anywhere. All I had were my memories of Savoia Pastry Shoppe in my old neighborhood bringing hot loaves out first thing in the morning and people waiting in line for them. But this year, I’m back in Rochester and am seizing the opportunity to introduce it to those who don’t know about this bread.

St. Joseph is, indeed, Mary’s husband and the man who raised Jesus Christ. March 19 was designated St. Joseph Day by Rome in 1479, but it had already been observed for 500 years at that point.

Many churches and communities hold a feast in his honor. This partially stems from the Middle Ages when St. Joseph is credited for saving Sicily from famine. There was a severe drought, and Sicilians promised to honor St. Joseph with a feast if he sent rain. The fava bean became a symbol of the feast as the crop saved the island from famine. At St. Joseph’s feast—held during Lent--there are only meatless and cheese-less dishes of vegetables, breads, soups, cakes and pasta. Everyone is welcome to bring food and eat food, and sometimes food is given to shelters.

While there are a couple of versions of St. Joseph’s bread, this one is an egg bread, as in adding eggs to the batter, and the crust is egg-washed, hard and golden brown, sprinkled with sesame seeds. It’s said that the seeds represent sawdust, since St. Joseph was a carpenter.

There are also many shapes to the bread, the symbols being as follows (per goldencroissantbakery.com):