Celebrating the Feasts of Santa Candida Martire and Sant’Eustachio Martire with My San Rocco Brethren

Baccala oreganata

After work Friday evening I met with my St. Rocco Society brothers at Peppino’s Restaurant (7708 3rd Ave.) in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn for our monthly “boys night out” dinner. Never just a simple meal, our friendly gatherings almost always gets conflated with another celebration, like someone’s birthday or holiday. As luck would have it, this month’s dinner fell on the shared feast day of Santa Candida and Sant’Eustachio.

As someone who enjoys the little details, themed dinners and foodstuff associated with the saints are a terrific way to honor them, so I chose my courses accordingly.

Being a Friday, I never eat meat. Having done this my whole life in obedience to the traditional Catholic laws of fasting and abstinence, the penitential practice has become second nature and frankly doesn’t feel much like a privation anymore. Be that as it may, since it was also an Autumn Ember Day (the Wednesday, Friday and Saturday following the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross) it was a little tougher than normal because I had to cut down my portions during a soirée that is famously raucous and glutted with Chef Mancino’s delicious Duosiciliano fare.

Luckily for me, Santa Candida is the patroness of fishermen and farmers, so I ate my modest fish and vegetable dish with her in mind. Baccala oreganata, Gaeta olives and a side of scarola aglio e olio seemed like a suitable meal to dedicate to the keeper of the Ventotene, one of the Pontine jewels off the coast of Gaeta in the Tyrrhenian Sea.

However, as the patron saint of gamekeepers and hunters, Sant’Eustachio had to be content with only drinks and a toast in his name. Allowing myself to enjoy an aperitivio in his honor, I chose my usual Jägermeister, a German herbal liquor whose well known stag and cross logo denotes the holy huntsmen, Saints Hubertus and Eustace.

Only a temporary delay, I had plans to move his culinary celebration to Sunday with my family, transforming our customary hebdomadal get-together into a lavish hunters’ fête. Instead of our regular Sunday ragù, after Mass I will attempt to make my family’s “famous” Coniglio all’ischitana, a traditional hunter-style rabbit dish from Ischia. One of my favorite’s, the hearty repast will surely bring back a lot of fond memories. For many years my father returned from the hunt with hare or venison and my mother lovingly prepared the delicious game for us.

These ritual dinners mean the world to me. No matter how hectic or noisy they somehow bring a sense of order and purpose in an otherwise disordered and disconcerting world. This may come as a shock, but outside of Mass breaking bread with family and friends is my favorite way to honor our ancestors, venerate the saints, and celebrate our culture and faith together.

Evviva Santa Candida! Evviva Sant’Eustachio! Evviva San Rocco! and Evviva San Tommaso da Villanova! whose day it is.

~ Giovanni di Napoli, Sunday, September 22nd, Feast of St. Thomas of Villanova