Vastedda: Tender beef spleen smothered in creamy ricotta and fiore sardo.
For as long as I can remember the 18th Ave. Feast was one of the "best" festivals in Brooklyn. I couldn't wait for it to come around. My friends and I would get together and make our way through the throng of revelers, flirt with the pretty girls, visit family and friends, and pay our respects to our elders. Some of us would make small donations to the church by Santa Rosalia’s effigy and get prayer cards for our parents and grandparents.
We would eventually make our way back to 73rd St. to play ball, trash-talk about the upcoming Serie A season, and, of course, eat. We didn't just eat the traditional street fare—sausage and peppers, brioche con gelato (ice cream sandwich), and zeppoles—we also devoured delectable homemade Sicilian specialties like, smoked sardines from Sciacca and the quintessential comfort food, Anelletti con ragu' e piselli, baked pasta with meat and peas.
After dinner we would take a passeggiata (evening stroll) along the Avenue before having un café and late-night conversation on someone's porch. Almost every house on the block was the same.
For a variety of reasons, Bensonhurst is no longer a staunch working-class Sicilian neighborhood. But unlike other Southern Italian communities that underwent massive demographic changes, the Santa Rosalia Feast does not lure back her expats like the San Gennaro, San Paolino and San Rocco festivals do. This is remarkable when you consider that only twenty years ago Bensonhurst had one of the largest Southern Italian communities in Brooklyn and vied with Lower Manhattan for the right to call itself New York City's "Little Italy."
Nostalgic for the "good-old-days," and with a sense of obligation and loyalty to my fellow "hold-outs,” I return to the Feast year after year hopelessly hoping to witness a renaissance. Needless to say I always leave a little disappointed. What was once a vibrant, colorful and edifying event is now nearly devoid of any cultural or religious significance. The familiar sights and smells are woefully lacking. Sadly, only the crass commercialism endures.
The few remaining highlights include Gino's Focacceria [7118 18th Ave.], specializing in Palermitana cuisine, and Café Italia [6917 18th Ave.], a local gelateria serving scalding-hot espresso and cold, creamy gelato. Both are permanent fixtures and are worth visiting all-year-round. I always take the opportunity to buy a panelle di ceci (chickpea fritter) or vastedda (beef spleen) sandwich and a strawberry gelato for desert.
If I seem overly critical of the Feast it's only because I remember how great it once was. I would like to see a return to the Feast's roots, make it more traditional, even if that means making it smaller. There are precious few opportunities to celebrate our heritage, so this would give people a reason to come back and encourage more locals to participate. I wouldn't go to a Chinese restaurant for Polish food or attend the Caribbean Day Parade to hear the bagpipes so I don't understand why a Sicilian Feast should not showcase Sicilian culture and folkways. Otherwise, stop calling it the Feast of Santa Rosalia and start calling it what it has become: The 18th Ave. Street-Fair.
