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| São Martinho, Castanhas & Magustos ...portugalconfidential.com |
Do you know that …
today people celebrate St.Martin's Day?
Read a little bit here.
"In Portugal, St. Martin's Day
is commonly associated with the celebration of the maturation of the year's wine, being traditionally the first day when the new wine can be tasted. It is celebrated, traditionally around a bonfire, eating the "magusto", chestnuts roasted under the embers of the bonfire (sometimes dry figs and walnuts), and drinking a local light alcoholic beverage called "água-pé", made by adding water to the pomace left after the juice is pressed out of the grapes for wine – traditionally by stomping on them in vats with bare feet, and letting it ferment for several days), or the stronger "jeropiga" (a sweet liquor obtained in a very similar fashion, with "aguardente" added to the water). "Água-pé", though no longer available for sale in supermarkets and similar outlets (it is officially banned for sale in Portugal), is still generally available in small local shops from domestic production. (…)
A typical Portuguese saying related to Saint Martin's Day:
É dia de São Martinho;
comem-se castanhas, prova-se o vinho.
(It is St. Martin's Day,
we'll eat chestnuts, we'll taste the wine.)
This period is also quite popular because of the usual good weather period that occurs in Portugal in this time of year, called "Verão de São Martinho" (St. Martin's Summer).
It is frequently tied to the legend since Portuguese versions of St. Martin's legend usually replace the snowstorm with rain (because snow is not frequent in most parts of Portugal, while rain is common at that time of the year) and have Jesus bringing the end of it, thus making the "summer" a gift from God. (adapted https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Martin%27s_Day)
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