The Feast of St. Lawrence

Today is the feast day of St. Lawrence, who tradition says was martyred by being roasted alive. He supposedly even made a joke about it: “Turn me over, this side is done.” St. Lawrence is now the patron saint of cooks, which may be a nod to his famous sense of humor.

What will Catholics eat today in honor of the saint’s feast day? Some traditions call for cold cuts and other uncooked foods, in pious avoidance of anything that would too closely resemble Lawrence’s burned flesh.

But others go the opposite direction, celebrating the manner of his death with a barbecue. As Evelyn Vitz, author of A Continual Feast: A Cookbook to Celebrate the Joys of Family & Faith throughout the Christian Year explains on her blog, “We decided that serving barbecued chicken is a great way to signify his triumph over the fire.” A contributor at the Catholic Cuisine blog interprets the theme another way, with cupcakes decorated to look like grills, complete with little shish kebabs made of frosting.

Smithsonian has the story, and a list of other saints connected with cooking. Link