The tables of Saint Joseph are large tables set on March 19 in honor of Saint Joseph.
The tradition is attested above all in Salento (with rare and sparse testimonies in Sicily, Abruzzo and Molise). In Salento the rites dedicated to the earthly father of Christ, continue from a distant past cloaked in faith and popular devotion.
The municipalities of Salento that devoutly set up the tables of San Giuseppe are the following: San Cassiano, Giurdignano, Poggiardo, Uggiano la Chiesa, Avetrana, Cerfignano, Cocumola, Diso, Guagnano, Minervino di Lecce, Casamassella, Otranto, Spongano, Lizzano, Fragagnano, San Marzano di San Giuseppe, Sava, Monteparano, Faggiano, Torchiarolo, San Pietro Vernotico, Erchie and San Donaci.
The tables, essentially similar throughout Salento except for small differences between one municipality and another, are set with dishes ranging from lampascioni to turnips, from vermiceddhri (a type of pasta with cabbage) to fried fish, from pittule to zeppola, from bread in the shape of a large donut to fennel and oranges.
The whole thing is consumed at midday on March 19 by the so-called “saints” impersonated by friends or relatives of the families who range from a minimum number of three (Saint Joseph, Baby Jesus and the Madonna) to a maximum number of thirteen (the members of the Last Supper), always in any case in odd numbers.
The organization of the tables begins between the end of February and the first half of March, when some devout families prepare bread or a traditional pasta – the massa e ciciri – or both, to distribute to all those who come to their homes. It is an ancient ritual, that of the massa: the preparation took place at the rhythm of prayer (it was left to cook for the time of a Pater Noster, it was left to rest in the limmi – traditional containers – for the time of 10 Ave Maria and so on). The distribution followed the recitation of the rosary, almost as if to sanctify the effort accomplished with prayer. Tradition requires the devout family not to eat what they have distributed except the leftovers.
Out of devotion, for grace received or as a propitiatory sign, some families prepare, therefore, on the day of the feast, the table of Saint Joseph, set according to precise rules and at which one sits respecting others. Once upon a time, the guests were chosen among the poor of the country, while today it is more common to extend the invitation to relatives and friends, to those who are most in need or have a large family. Thus the Christian tradition and the archaic spirit of hospitality of these people merge, the time of a lunch, just enough to revive one's roots.
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