St. Joseph’s tables in Salento represent a fundamental moment of life for small communities, a time of gathering for visitors and tourists, a unique opportunity for hospitality and food sharing for those who are not from Salento and are visiting our lands for the first time.
Today we are given an incredible opportunity: to follow the tables of St. Joseph in Minervino, in another area of Salento.
Last year we were guests of the municipality of Giurdignano and speakers in the conference on the tables and together with LecceNews24: we talked about St. Joseph, kneaded, prepared, filmed and met nice Salento women during the preparations of the Giurdignano tables.
If you want to see and find out all about St. Joseph’s tables in Giurdignano, click on the link
St. Joseph’s Table
At the Mettere le Ali Onlus cooperative, Minervino office.
We are excited because this year we received a special invitation from deep in Salento, exactly from Minervino, a tiny and charming town in the province of Lecce, located a handful of kilometers from the sea.
The Mettere le Ali Onlus cooperative, which assists many young people in need, is organizing a beautiful St. Joseph’s table with 5 Saints, and we will be alongside the organizers for this special occasion of food, love and sharing.
After the blessing of the table by Don Antonio Cagnazzo, parish priest of Minervino, the homes of this small town will be opened to visitors to visit St. Joseph’s tables. Out of devotion and faith, each visitor will receive massa e ciceri, a typical dish of the Salento land and peasant civilization.
We were fortunate enough to see a preview of the preparations of St. Joseph’s table by the Mettere le Ali cooperative, and we can assure you that everything is prepared properly, with faith and dedication by volunteers.
5 Saints
Social and labor commitment behind the choice
The saints around the tables set should be in odd numbers from 3 to 13. Each saint, starting with the Holy Family, is personified by a special guest.
The 5 Saints of Mettere le Ali Onlus hold a very important job and role from the perspective of civic and social engagement:
- St. Joseph: Dr. Andrea Apollonio,Magistrate and Doctor of Criminal Justice
- Virgin Mary: Dr. Carmen Ruggero Deputy Prosecutor DDA Lecce
- Baby Jesus: a boy former guest of the community
- San Gioacchino: Dr. Marco Notarnicola (Head of Productive Management X-Farm, a farm that manages and cultivates land confiscated from the Mafia)
- Sant’Anna: Flavia Luna De Matteis, President of the Circolo Arci “Lévera” that manages a property confiscated from organized crime.
The dishes
Cooked table of 13 dishes
The table will be a cooked table, that is, with cooked dishes.
The welcome guests who will impersonate the Saints will taste the following dishes:
- turnips
- mass
- stockfish
- fish
- fried with honey
- bread
- wine
- oil
- orange
- fennel
- honey
- pasta
- pampasciuni i.e., lampascioni.
St. Joseph will start with the classic three strokes of the stick and decide when to ask for the next dish, setting him the time between one dish and another.
Each saint will be obliged to share with other people, his neighbor or friends, the dishes that have not been eaten.
Photo exhibition
St. Joseph: between tradition and cooperation
The surprises of Putting on Wings do not end with the organization of the table. Together with the photo collective “Argento Vivo” of Lecce, a photo exhibition entitled “San Giuseppe: between tradition and cooperation ” will be inaugurated at the former convent of the Reformed Fathers in the heart of Minervino.
The shots on display capture the most significant moments of last year’s St. Joseph’s Table. We have previewed the images and can assure you that they are a true masterpiece.
St. Joseph te l’aggia ‘nsettu
The most favorite phrase of the hosts welcoming visitors and worshippers
We invite you to visit the Mettere le Ali Cooperative’s St. Joseph’s Table and enjoy the massa e ciceri while remembering to say “San Giuseppe te l’aggia ‘nsettu (St. Joseph grant your requests for grace)” because giving thanks in the right way is a welcome gesture from the hosts who prepare each and every dish in honor of St. Joseph with devotion and faith.
