If you don't eat goose on Martin's Day, you go hungry all year. We could go on saying that if you're a goose, be fat, and that one goose neck is better than a hundred chicken necks. But why do we spend so much time on poultry as winter approaches, and why do restaurants put together a Martin's Day menu and offer goose dishes?
More and more places in Hungary are already seeing groups of children singing and reciting in the streets at dusk on Martin's Day, 11 November, with parents or teachers. The little ones hold coloured lanterns in their hands to bring people the light that symbolises good deeds. It is a time to remember Saint Martin, who, according to legend, tried to hide in a goose coop when he was about to be elected bishop, but was betrayed by the animals' gnawing and could not avoid the office offered to him.
Why you should eat goose on Martin's Day
Martin's Day marks the beginning of winter, the last day of the 40-day fast before Christmas, when a big eating and drinking feast has been celebrated for centuries. The line began with the Romans, who believed that 11 November was the start of the winter quarter, and gave rise to the great feast. The god of war, the bird of Mars, the goose, was on the menu, and new wine was drunk with it. In the Middle Ages, Martin was the most popular saint in Europe and thus in Hungary. It was the time when the yearly peasant work was completed and the winter rest period for nature began. Spring geese reach their slaughter weight in November, so they are the main ingredients for festive dishes: goose soup, roast goose with steamed cabbage and bread rolls, crispy goose legs, goose breast and the inevitable stuffed goose steaks. After the goose dinner, it is customary to toast with a glass of Martin, the new wine that has just matured for November.
Martin's Day is also a day for divination
It is said that it is worth paying attention to the weather on this special day: if it is a good Martin, it will be a harsh winter, but if it is a cloudy Martin, it will be a gloomy winter. It's also a good idea to look at the bones of a slaughtered goose, because if they're short and brown, it will be a muddy winter, but if they're long and white, there will be lots of snow. And if the holiday is in wine-growing country, you should go out to the vineyards, because if you find green leaves, you can be confident that the next three months will be mild, and if it rains, the next harvest will be plentiful.
