Page 6 - Italian American Herald - November 2019

6 ITALIANAMERICANHERALD.COM | NOVEMBER2019 ITALIAN-AMERICANHERALD FROM THE COVER
is referred to as “battere San Martino,” meaning “beat St. Martin.” After that, children buy sweets with the money they gathered.
The traditional sweet prepared for St. Martin’s Day represents St. Martin riding
the horse and it is made of pasta frolla, a short crust pastry garnished with pralines, chocolates and candies. An older version was a quince jelly cake. Children receive one from their grandparents or parents. Today many pastry shops promote this sweet treat as the “special of the day.”
L’Estate di San Martino (St. Martin’s summer) is the traditional Sicilian reference to a period of unseasonably warm weather in early to mid-November which indicated it was time on the island to begin the celebration of St. Martin. In the past there was a St. Martin’s Day for the rich celebrated on Nov. 11 and one for the poor on the
first Sunday after that date. Today, on the
traditional day of the poor’s commemoration in Palermo, women prepare cookies as big as an orange, whose dough contains anise seeds and wild fennel. These cookies are immersed in Moscato, Malvasia or Passito to be enjoyed by all, young and old alike. On the other side of the island in Linguaglossa, a little village on the slopes of Mount Etna, they celebrate St. Martin on Nov. 10 and Nov. 11 in its main squares with wine tastings, roasted chestnuts, typical Sicilian autumn foods combined with music, folk dances and games.
Above all else St. Martin’s Day in Italy is a religious celebration strongly connected
to the farming life. It marked the time of renewing agreements, buying new livestock, tasting the new wine and eating good food. Today St. Martin’s Day represents a moment in which people taste local wine and enjoy autumn.
No matter in which region of Italy you
find yourself, there are events to celebrate this saint along with great wines of the various regions!
In the United States, St.
Martin’s Day celebrations are
uncommon, and when they do
happen, they reflect the cultural
heritage of a local community.
It seems that most of the local
cultural celebrations in the
United States are organized
by German-Americans. Many
German restaurants feature a
traditional menu with goose and
gluhwein; a mulled red wine. St.
Paul, Minnesota, celebrates with
a traditional lantern procession
around Rice Park. The evening
includes German treats and
traditions that highlight the
season of giving. In Dayton,
Ohio, the Dayton Liederkranz-
Turner organization hosts a St.
Martin’s family celebration on the weekend before with an evening lantern parade to the singing of Saint. Martin’s carols, followed by a bonfire. Phoenix, Arizona, carries out an annual traditional German lantern procession at the MacDonald‘s Ranch in Scottsdale.
As far as Italian-American celebrations
Traditional sweets are made for St. Martin’s Day.
in honor of St. Martin, there are none as extensive and elaborate as those of German- Americans, although local Italian-American social and fraternal organizations hold private events in which members share their newly brewed wines and celebrate their age-old ancestral tradition of enjoying fine wine. IAH
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