[Photo: Liz Kern/KMJ]
FRESNO, CA (KMJ) – Tradition and culture were abound at this weekend’s St Anthony’s Festival in Easton.
[Photo: Liz Kern/KMJ]
Fred Machado was just one of the people attending the Festa, celebrating the life and times of a saint to both Portuguese and Italians.
“It’s been going on for 82 years over here in Fresno, St. Anthony was a saint born in Portugal, and preached in Padua, Italy, and the Italians tried to claim him but he don’t belong to Italy.” – Fred Machado, Festa Attendee.
[Photo: Liz Kern/KMJ]
Both young and old, gathered at St. Jude Catholic Church for mass, then on to the CPDES Portuguese Hall for a traditional meal.
KMJ’s Liz Kern: “Do you think that something like this is good to carry on with the young people?
Fred Machado: “These are mostly people that were descendants from the Azores, had the celebrations going over there and their ancestors brought it over here, and I think it’s a good thing to keep up with the traditions.”
[Photo: Liz Kern/KMJ]
Author and chef Maria Lawton was a special guest in the kitchen, joining the men who were cooking, and then serving the traditional meal of Cassoila -a Portuguese beef stew, in a tomato base, with bell peppers and onions served with rice.
[Photos: Liz Kern/KMJ]
“No matter where I’ve gone, whether I’ve traveled in the Azores or on the East Coast, into any different Portuguese community, this is the camaraderie, this is the way of us staying together, keeping our traditions together and preserving them for the next generation, which is all we could ever ask for.” Chef Maria Lawton, The Azorean Green Bean.
[Photo: Liz Kern/KMJ]
Chef Lawton is known as the Azorean Green Bean, and has been filming her PBS series on Portuguese cooking, which included a visit to Fresno’s event, before she visits chefs in Modesto, San Jose, Sonoma, Napa, and San Francisco, all on her California Portuguese cooking tour list.
Click to listen to a report by KMJ’s Liz Kern:
