>> I just heard a tale that January 2 is the feast day of St. Macarius
>> who was a 4th century merchant specializiing in sweets, candies and
>> macaroons before he became a monk, and his nickname is 'St. Macaroon'
> Well, your saint did exist -- he is Saint Macarius of Alexandria or
> Macarius the Younger, to distinguish him from another, older contemporary
> of the same name. But he has nothing to do with the name of the macaroon.
> From the online version of the old <Catholic Encyclopedia>: [...]

> Macarius the Alexandrian [...]
> died about 405. He was a younger contemporary of Macarius the
> Egyptian, but there is no reason for confounding or identifying him
> with his older namesake. More than any of the hermits of the time he
> exemplified the spirit of emulation characteristic of this stage of
> monasticism. He would be excelled by none in his austerities. [...]
> Once, in expiation of a fault, he lay for six months in a morass,
> exposed to the attacks of the African gnats, whose sting can pierce
> even the hide of a wild boar. When he returned to his companions he
> was so much disfigured that he could be recognized only by his voice.

The encyclopaedia has understated this. Robert Chambers' _Book of
Days_, quoting Butler's _Lives of the Saints_, says that the fault
he was expiating was that he'd swatted a gnat that bit him.

W.E.H. Lecky's _History of European Morals_ has a splendidly sarcastic
chapter on early Christian ascetic loonies. John Tavener has written
an opera about one of them (Mary of Egypt) and genuinely seems to
believe they were a Good Thing, but then he would, wouldn't he.


> But he has nothing to do with the name of the macaroon.

I don't see anything in what you quote to decide it either way. The
almond/sugar/egg cake has no obvious link to any pasta-like dish, so
why not an independent etymology? Somebody celebrating the feast of
St Macarius by a dish related to his early occupation could easily
have got the name and the food associated.

========> Email to "j-c" at this site; email to "bogus" will bounce <========
Jack Campin: 11 Third Street, Newtongrange, Midlothian EH22 4PU; 0131 6604760
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"bogus address" > wrote in message
...

> > Macarius the Alexandrian [...]
> > died about 405. He was a younger contemporary of Macarius the
> > Egyptian, but there is no reason for confounding or identifying him

He also invented macaroni and the "Macarena" dance.

He's also blamed^h^h^h^h^h^h credited with the invention (or discovery as
the case may be) of the Macintosh computer and/or its OS but his heirs deny
this strenuously.

--
Bob
Kanyak's Doghouse
http://kanyak.com

>>> Macarius the Alexandrian [...] died about 405. He was a younger
>>> contemporary of Macarius the Egyptian
> He also invented macaroni and the "Macarena" dance.
> He's also blamed^h^h^h^h^h^h credited with the invention (or discovery
> as the case may be) of the Macintosh computer and/or its OS but his
> heirs deny this strenuously.

Well his heirs had enough trouble denying there was a MacArian heresy,
so you can understand them not wanting to tangle with Bill Gates as
well as the Pope.

There is probably a market niche for a Heretics' Cookbook. St John
Chrysostom gives us an alleged Gnostic recipe for foetus pate and the
Cathar "perfecti" were vegetarians so there was a fair range to choose
from.

========> Email to "j-c" at this site; email to "bogus" will bounce <========
Jack Campin: 11 Third Street, Newtongrange, Midlothian EH22 4PU; 0131 6604760
<http://www.purr.demon.co.uk/purrhome.html> food intolerance data & recipes,
Mac logic fonts, Scots traditional music files and CD-ROMs of Scottish music.

I think I'll mark down January 2 as St. Macaroon's Day and have a bogus
excuse for a blowout of amaretti and macaroons and all things related---

And speaking of which: what IS related? 'Ossi di morti' maybe? What
else? What else would a 4th century Egyptian sweet merchant have sold?
Its near Twelfth Night/Three Kings Day, so what traditional items might
go along with that?

Say the Three Wise Men paused in Alexandria to pick up some sweeties to
take to Bethlehem along with the gold, frankincense and myrrh.

phbp

(Patrick Porter) nattered on thusnews:22237-40010A49-
:

> Its near Twelfth Night/Three Kings Day, so what traditional items might
> go along with that?

Whatever it is, remember dates and honey.

Of course, that's good advice for a lot of sweets.

> I think I'll mark down January 2 as St. Macaroon's Day and have
> a bogus excuse for a blowout of amaretti and macaroons and all
> things related---
> And speaking of which: what IS related? 'Ossi di morti' maybe?
> What else? What else would a 4th century Egyptian sweet merchant
> have sold?

Perhaps much the same as what you'd find in an Istanbul pastry/sweet
shop today, only with more honey and less or no sugar? None of that
stuff (baklava, halva etc) needs New World ingredients or technologies
unknown to the Pharaohs. Wheat varieties from 2000 years ago should
make flaky pastry with no problem.

But we don't seem to have almond/egg/sugar macaroons cited, at least
in English, before 1611, which would leave a 1000-year uncertainty
about when any association with St Macarius might have been made.

Anybody know of any evidence of a cult of St Macarius? Churches
dedicated to him? - the statues and paintings round the walls would
presumably leave you feeling itchy and hungry at the same time.

========> Email to "j-c" at this site; email to "bogus" will bounce <========
Jack Campin: 11 Third Street, Newtongrange, Midlothian EH22 4PU; 0131 6604760
<http://www.purr.demon.co.uk/purrhome.html> food intolerance data & recipes,
Mac logic fonts, Scots traditional music files and CD-ROMs of Scottish music.

I don't know why we couldn't form our own cult of St. Macarius---he was
the patron of sweet makers and chefs. Maybe we should have a group fast
the day before and eat celery dipped in brine, then go wild with the
baklava at midnight.

"Patrick Porter" > wrote in message
...
> I don't know why we couldn't form our own cult of St. Macarius---he was
> the patron of sweet makers and chefs. Maybe we should have a group fast
> the day before and eat celery dipped in brine, then go wild with the
> baklava at midnight.

Potential problem: This is the global internet. At any given hour it's
midnight *somewhere* in the world.

--
Bob
Kanyak's Doghouse
http://kanyak.com

"bogus address" > wrote in message
...

> Anybody know of any evidence of a cult of St Macarius? Churches
> dedicated to him? - the statues and paintings round the walls would
> presumably leave you feeling itchy and hungry at the same time.

Here's what Google fetches up:
http://tinyurl.com/3alw6

One particularly promising link:
http://www.geocities.com/NapaValley/..._macarius.html

<quote>

St. Macarius : Patron saint of cooks, confectioners and pastry chefs

AKA : Macarius of Alexandria

</quote>

http://www.catholic.org/saints/stindex.php?lst=M lists eight Macarii:

St. Macarius
St. Macarius
St. Macarius
St. Macarius & Julian
St. Macarius of Jerusalem
St. Macarius the Ghent
St. Macarius the Great
St. Macarius the Wonder-Worker

--
Bob
Kanyak's Doghouse
http://kanyak.com