The tradition of making St Anthony’s bread began because of two different miracles. The first miracle happened in 1263, when a child drowned during the construction of St Anthony’s Basilica in Italy. The mother prayed to St. Anthony, “ Please oh Blessed Anthony bring back the life of my child and I will feed the poor the equal amount of my son’s weight.” The child recovered and the mother fed the poor.
Another Bread Miracle happened in 1888, with Louise Bouffier who worked in a small bakery in the village of Toulon, France. One day she went to open the bakery door and the key would not work. If you have ever been to France, you will understand how important it is to open the bakery. Even the locksmith could not get the door open. Louise prayed to St. Anthony and asked “St Anthony would open the door and I promise I will feed the poor bread and give alms”. The door miraculously opened, and she completed her promise and began baking bread for the poor. Two years later a charity was opened called “St. Anthony’s Bread”. To this day, on June 13th, some churches bake bread and pass the loaves out to the poor. This bread recipe comes from this tradition.
St Anthony’s Bread
Italian style
3 cups of organic unbleached flour
and enough flour to add when its time
to knead the bread
1 packages of dry yeast
1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning
“ I make my own seasoning from my garden
which is equal parts of dried
rosemary, oregano, and thyme
ground finely.”
1 teaspoon of dried parsley
or 2 teaspoons of fresh finely chopped parsley.
1 cup of milk
1/4 cup of water
2 teaspoons of organic raw sugar
1 egg
2 Tablespoons of real European butter
“This makes a big difference
I buy either French or Danish butter for my baking”
1 Tablespoon of garlic salt
2/4 cup of fresh grated parmesan cheese
And a small amount olive oil
for greasing the bowl and bread pans.
In a large bowl, add flour, yeast, Italian seasoning, parsley
and garlic salt and mix well. Now in a sauce pan, place the milk, water, butter and sugar and warm on a very low heat until the butter is melted. You do not want to heat the milk over 120-130 degrees, but if you do, let it cool a bit. Now pour the milk/butter into a bowl and add the yeast and let it set for about 5-7 minutes. In the mean time, add the egg and grated cheese into the dry ingredient and mix well. Add the yeast milk mixture and then throughly mix with a large spoon.
On a flour board, place the bread dough and knead the flour into the dough…kneading for the next 5-8 minutes. I keep adding flour a bit at a time until I get the right texture, which will be soft and smooth. Place the dough in an olive oiled bowl and place a clean towel over the bowl and put it in a warm place for 45 minutes to rise. When the dough has doubled its size, punch it down, divide it in two and place it into two small oiled bread pans. Let rise again before Baking at 375 degrees for 25 or 30 minutes or until done, the top will be golden brown. Take out of the oven, spread a small chunk of butter over the top crust and then let it cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pan. This bread was given to the poor on St. Anthony’s feast day and also eaten with sardines.
If you like to join us on Global Pilgrimage March 19th St. Jospeh Day we will be making bread altars and giving bread away to those in need. Please contact me through messenger on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/raylene.abbott
