St.Joseph's Zeppoli

MaltaGirl, who has just discovered the traditional Zeppoli, reminds us that the Catholic world is today commemorating the birth of St Joseph. Malta celebrates this day in line with Italian traditions. From Diverse Ramblings:

This morning, before he left to go buy bread from the baker, Dad asked me if I wanted Żeppoli.
My answer was "Huh?" so he explained that they are sort of like doughnuts, with cream, and cherry and chocolate chips. He also explained that they are made for St. Joseph's Day, which is today, March 19th (I didn't know that either, don't follow these things any more). The description sounded good except for the cherry chips (don't like cherry) so I decided that I would try one. In the meantime, I did a little Googling, and found a great article on Zeppole, as they are called in Italy.

In a moment of linguistic inspiration I made the connection between Żeppoli and Gużeppi (Maltese name for Joseph), although originally of course it was derived from the Italian Giuseppe. Kinda shameful that I have lived in Malta all my life and still don't know things like this, but on the other hand, it means that there is always something new to learn :-)
Unfortunately, Dad came back minus the Żeppoli... the baker didn't make any, and the other shop he tried had sold out already. Oh well, maybe I'll get to taste some next year.

Kurat Gybejxi finds Zeppoli in Brussels

St Joseph from the Catholic Encyclopedia

Malta Folklore and Traditions links

MaltaGirl discusses the Maltese blogosphere here