Any occasion is a good excuse to open a good bottle of wine, right? On November 11th, St. Martin’s Day, also known as Martinovanje, is celebrated through Slovenia. It is an important event, especially in the wine-producing regions: Podravska, Spodnjeposavska and Primorska region (also known as Goriška and Coast-Karst region).
The Must turns into Wine
It was believed that St. Martin was able to change water into wine. Therefore, on St. Martin’s Day, it is traditionally believed that it is the time when the must turns into wine – an important event for the winemakers. The must, believed to be impure and sinful, is often blessed by a bishop and then, it becomes wine.
Feast of St. Martin
St. Martin’s Day is the Feast of St. Martin of Tours. According the legend, St. Martin was so reluctant to the idea of being appointed as Bishop that he hid in a barn of full of geese. The geese cackled at the disturbance and betrayed his hideout and he was appointed Bishop anyways.
Eating goose became the traditional symbol of the Feast of St. Martin. Although, not everyone could afford to eat goose, many ate some sort of poultry instead, such as duck or chicken.
For St. Martin’s Day, we had turkey with stewed red cabbage. Yum! And the feast wouldn’t be completed without a delicious dessert, right?
Wondering where I found those goodies? It’s from a friendly restaurant near our house: Gostilna Pr’Krvin 🙂
| Updates January 2017 – I am sad to announce that Gostilna Pr’ Krvin is now closed. |
Until next time,
Anna.
Anna in Slovenia 