I’m a big fan of any holiday that involves a food tradition, so when I heard about zeppole, an Italian doughnut made to celebrate the feast of St. Joseph, I was pretty excited. I meant to grab one last year, but somehow never made it to an Italian bakery in time. This year, however, I was more prepared. I heard through the grapevine that most shops started carrying them in February, far in advance of the March 19 holiday. This gave me plenty of time to plan my angle of attack.
And so, one morning, when my alarm failed to go off and I was running super-late to work, I decided to stop by Maria’s in the North End on my way and pick up a few specimens. Maria’s is generally my favorite spot for Italian pastries in Boston; their cannoli and sfogliatelle are noticeably better than those at Mike’s and Modern.
But honestly, I was a bit disappointed by these zeppole. I sampled both the ricotta and the more traditional yellow pastry-cream version. Though I preferred the ricotta zeppola, I was disappointed by the rather wan doughnut in both cases. It was very light and airy, and reminded me a bit of a dry French cruller from Dunkin’ Donuts. That might sound harsh, but I can appreciate zeppole anyway, though next year I may sample them from a different shop. If nothing else, they herald the end of winter, and highlight the connection between food and culture, which in case you haven’t noticed, I’m really interested in.
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