Glen Cove's Feast of St. Rocco returns for its 51st year

"Food, faith and family."

That's the focus of the Feast of St. Rocco in Glen Cove, which returns July 30-Aug. 2 on the grounds of St. Rocco’s Roman Catholic Church for its 51st year. "This feast is part of our identity and our heritage," says Deacon John Fielding, who works on the feast committee. "It’s our way of sharing what we have here with everyone."

Homemade Italian food is the star of the show at St. Rocco’s where the senior parishioners affectionately known as the nonnas, ranging in age from 60s to 90s, prepare fresh dishes to serve the community.

"The nonnas are the core of our cooking crew. They have the recipes that they pass down from generation to generation that brings a special type of atmosphere," Fielding says. "Plus, they serve the food themselves to the people. It brings back good memories of sitting down with your grandmother and parents to have a good meal."

Favorite dishes include chicken Parmesan, cavatelli with broccoli rabe, rice balls, eggplant Parmesan, fried shrimp and pasta Bolognese. This year’s nightly specials will be filet of sole and shrimp oreganata over rice and fried calamari (July 31), veal saltimbocca with pasta (Aug. 1) and Nonna’s Special, featuring pasta with meatballs, sausage and braciole (Aug. 2).

One Italian delicacy that is made annually is tripe, the inner stomach lining of cattle that’s prepared in a stewlike fashion.

"It’s amazing how many people come just for our tripe. We not only sell individual portions but quarts of it as well," Fielding says. "For many, it reminds him of something they might have grown up with in Brooklyn or Queens. It’s very nostalgic."

Don’t forget desserts — stop by the Caffe Cannoli to pick a cannoli flavor of your choice (limoncello, pistachio, Nutella or classic plain) or a bombolone (pistachio, Nutella, raspberry), a fried Italian doughnut rolled in sugar, to go with your cold cappuccino float or hot espresso.

Another key element of the feast is the procession of the St. Rocco statue, which takes place at 11:15 a.m. on the last day (Aug. 2) after the 10:15 a.m. Mass. The two-hour event involves hundreds of people parading through the streets surrounding the church with the statue of St. Rocco and an Italian marching band. People pin money to the ribbons on the statue and ask St. Rocco to answer their prayers.

"There are many people who are homebound and not able to come to the feast directly therefore we bring St. Rocco to them," Fielding says. "Sometimes we will knock on their doors to say hello, other times they will come outside to greet us."

Nightly live music, a vendors market plus a carnival section with rides and games, presented by Newton Shows, round out the four-day event.