On November 11th in Venice, the feast of San Martino is celebrated\u2014a popular festival where people used to eat chestnuts and new wine, singing under the windows of houses and hoping that others would throw more chestnuts from their homes.<\/p>\n
Of this ancient festival, the custom remains to bang together objects that make a lot of noise, like pots and lids, and ask for some change from shopkeepers or passersby, especially Venetians.<\/p>\n
For the occasion, a nursery rhyme is sung:
\n“San Martino xe \u2018nd\u00e0 in sofita
\na trovar ea nonna Rita
\nnona Rita no ghe gera
\nS.Martin col c\u00f9eo par tera
\nE col nostro sachet\u00ecn
\ncari signori xe S.Martin”<\/p>\n
A bit of history:
\nMartino was born in Pannonia, present-day Hungary, in 316; he was the son of a Roman officer and was educated in the city of Pavia, where he spent his childhood until enlisting in the imperial guard at the age of fifteen. In school, Martino came into contact with Christians and, unbeknownst to his parents, became a catechumen and regularly attended Christian assemblies.
\nHis humility and charity have given rise to some legends.<\/p>\n
The most famous is undoubtedly this one:
\nIt was November 11th, a rainy and cold day, so much so that Martino was galloping on his horse covered by his cloak. At a certain moment, Martino encounters an old man on his path, covered in a few rags, staggering and chilled. Martino wants to help him but has neither money nor a blanket to offer him, so he takes off his cloak and, with his sword, cuts it in half, giving one part to the old man. Shortly after, as Martino happily gallops for having performed this charitable act, the weather warms up, and a radiant sun emerges from the clouds. This is the summer of San Martino, as the beautiful days of November are still called today. At night, Martino dreams of Jesus, who thanks him for that compassionate gesture with the cloak.<\/p>\n
The Sweet of San Martino:
\nThis sweet represents San Martino on horseback with his sword. In Venetian pastry shops, it can be found in all possible glazes, covered with dark or milk chocolate with chocolates or sugar sprinkles on top.<\/p>\n
Ingredients for a “San Martino” 20×30 cm, plus the leftover scraps:
\nFor the shortcrust pastry:
\n– 250 gr. of flour
\n– 150 gr. of butter
\n– 100 gr. of sugar
\n– 1 egg yolk<\/p>\n
For the glaze and covering (if you want to make it) it’s up to you. Some cover it with glaze, some with chocolate, some with sprinkles, some with sugar grains… it’s up to you to decide! If you have it, you’ll need a specific mold, or if you don’t, a horse-shaped paper form with San Martino on its back to cut the dough.<\/p>\n
Once it’s cooled, proceed with the decoration!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
On November 11th in Venice, San Martino is celebrated\u2014a popular festival where people used to eat chestnuts and new wine, singing under the windows of houses, and hoping that others would throw more chestnuts from their homes. Of this ancient festival, the custom remains to bang together objects that make a lot of noise, like pots and lids, and ask for some change from shopkeepers or passersby, especially Venetians.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":8013,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[139],"tags":[140,141],"class_list":["post-9984","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-prodotti-tipici-del-veneto-en","tag-colli-euganei-en","tag-veneto-en"],"yoast_head":"\n