St Martin’s Day Feast
In Slovenia, St Martin is the patron saint of new wine, as it is believed that on his name day must turns into wine. It is celebrated on November 11 and for a week or two after that. This is the time when the harvests are ending and the days are getting shorter. Traditionally, it was also the time when the animals fattened during the year were slaughtered and the banquets were not long in coming.
There are many legends surrounding the life of St Martin. He was born in 4 century AD in the Roman province of Pannonia and then joined the Roman cavalry as a teenager. He quickly became known for his kindness and humility. According to one story he ran into a beggar clad only in rags in the depths of the winter. When seeing him, Martin cut his cloak in half in order to share it with the beggar. This act of dividing the cloak became the most often-cited episode from Martin’s life, and was made the subject of many medieval works of art and literature. Following this incident, St. Martin left the Roman military. Eventually, he became a bishop of Tours, which leads us to another legend he is famous for. To evade the people of Tours who wanted to ordain him into a bishop, he hid in a pen of geese. The geese squawked at the sight of the intruder and gave him away.
However, as a result of this attempt, geese (or other fowl) are traditionally eaten on St. Martin’s Day. In Slovenia, a feast is laid out with duck (or, more rarely, with goose), `mlinci’ (a type of flatbread soaked in water until soft and dressed with duck juices), and braised red cabbage. Of course, these are always served with wine! You can find the recipes below.
Recipe
Ingredients:
Roast Duck
1 whole duck
1 apple
spring of thyme
5 garlic cloves
Braised Red Cabbage
1000 g red cabbage, finely chopped
90 g sugar
100 g butter
2 onions, finely chopped
4 apples with cores removed, peeled and grated
1 tsp caraway
250 ml red wine
vegetable stock as needed (around 400-5o0 ml)
1 wine vinegar
Mlinci
500 g flour
200 ml lukewarm water
10 g salt
2 eggs
Instructions:
Roast Duck
(to be done the day before) Remove the giblets from inside the duck. Rinse the duck (inside and outside) with cold water. Pat dry with paper towels. Season the duck generously inside and out with salt and pepper. Put a sprig of thyme, a chopped up apple, and 5 crushed garlic cloves into the cavity (these will be removed at the end).
Heat the oven to 210C (400 F).
Place the duck breast side up in a large roasting pan and bake at 210C (400 F) for 20 minutes.
Lower the oven temperature to 130C (265F) and roast the duck for 40 min per kilogram of weight (for example, if the duck weighs 2 kg, roast it for 80 minutes). Baste with duck juices from the pan every 20 minutes.
Increase the temperature to 210C (400 F) and roast the duck for another 15-20min. Baste with juices from the pan every 5 minutes.
Let the duck stand for at least 10 minutes.
Strain the remaining duck juice in the pan through a mesh sieve and keep it for later.
Carve the duck and serve it with mlinci and red cabbage.
Mlinci
Knead all the ingredients into a smooth dough, wrap with plastic wrap and let it rest for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180C (350 F).
Divide the dough into 3 pieces.
Working one piece at a time, thinly roll out the dough into a large rectangle. Cut into smaller strips, pierce them with a fork and put them in a baking pan lined with a baking sheet. Let them dry for about 15 minutes.
Bake mlinci until they are golden brown (about 15 minutes).
Once done, leave mlinci to cool completely. They can be prepared a few days before.
When ready to use, break mlinci into smaller pieces.
Boil a pot of salted water and pour it over mlinci. Let them sit in water until they soften, but are not mushy. If hard, add a bit more water and let sit again. Steam will help to soften the pieces.
Dress the mlinci with juices from the roast duck.
Stewed Red Cabbage
In a heavy-bottomed sauce pan, heat the sugar on medium heat until it is completely melted.
Add butter and onion and sauté until the onion becomes translucent.
Add chopped red cabbage and grated apple and sauté for another minute or two.
Add caraway and wine and salt to taste. Lower the temperature, cover the sauce pan with a lid, and braise slowly for about an hour. Stir every once in a while and add stock as needed. The dish has to be moist, not dry.
At the end season with salt and with a little bit of red wine vinegar (optional).