November

St. Martin's day
 Roast goose with red cabbage and mlinci (baked noodles), young wine and / or must (must turns into wine after fermentation)

Celebrating st. Martin’s day in Slovenia
On 11 November, Slovenians celebrate the St Martin’s Day or Martinmas, when must turns into wine. On this day, traditional festivities, wine-tasting and general merry-making take place nationwide, so many Slovenes set off to different wine-producing regions, where they taste local wines in traditional wine cellars.
The celebration begins with the 'blessing' of the young wine. However, a traditional party is not complete without a selection of hearty dishes and culinary delights, including rich roast goose with mlinci and red cabbage to accompany the excellent wines.
The feast coincides with pagan rituals, when farmers celebrated festivities of light, harvest and fertility. In the Medieval Ages it coincided with the settling of debts with feudal lords.
Even the Slovenian national anthem, Zdravljica ('A Toast'), by France Prešeren, testifies to the long tradition and love of wine-making, as the lyrics go: "The vintage, friends, is over, / And here sweet wine makes, once again, / Sad eyes and hearts recover, / Puts fire into every vein." Whoever likes Slovenia also loves its vineyards, stretching across the landscape and many regions, which produce an excellent range of wines for every taste.
Slovenia has one of the oldest viticulture traditions in Europe, which has been influenced by French, German and Italian wine making. The government has established a system of wine origin certification and quality control. Wine must be tasted before it acquires a trading permit.

 

St. Martin’s goose recipe
Ingredients:
1 goose
salt
pepper
marjoram
caraway seed
5 apples
200g chestnuts
6 shallots
30g lard
25ml grape brandy
100ml wine

Clean and wash the goose, then dry it with paper towels. Rub it with salt on the outside and with salt, pepper, marjoram and crushed caraway seed on the inside. Stuff it with sliced apples, cooked and peeled chestnuts, and shallots sautéed in lard. To ensure that the stuffing remains in place, sew up the hole. Put the goose into a pan on its back, add 100 ml of wine, and roast in the oven at 210°C for 90 minutes. Turn it around a few times during that time, basting it occasionally, so that a light brown crust is formed. Pour over the brandy a few minutes before it is done. When the goose has a nice brownish crust, put it in another dish and remove the grease from the pan. Add the liquid and bring to the boil. Pour the gravy on the goose and serve with mlinci and red cabbage.

Mlinci (baked pasta tatters)

Ingredients:
350g flour
1 tbsp oil
2 eggs

dressing:
60g butter or 100g pork crackling or onion sautéed in pork fat
 

Mix the flour, oil, eggs and water and knead into dough. The dough should be slightly harder than for noodles. Knead well, slice into pieces, and shape each piece into a small round loaf. Roll out the dough to the thickness of a knife blade.
Put into a greased baking tin and bake at 170 °C until delicate brown. When baked, break the mlinci and put into a bowl. Pour over salted boiling water, with a pinch of cumin and a bay leaf. Cover for 10 minutes, then drain and pour over the dressing. Mix and serve as a side dish to goose and braised red cabbage.

Braised red cabbage

Ingredients:
1kg of red cabbage
salt
vinegar
cumin
50ml oil
1 tbsp. sugar
2 tbsp. chopped onions
10g flour
1 apple

Wash the cabbage, dry it, slice it, add salt and cumin, and sprinkle with vinegar. Heat the oil in a frying pan and add sugar. When the sugar starts to caramelize, add the onions. Sauté until the onions are transparent, then add the cabbage and grated apple. Simmer the cabbage on a low heat and stir several times. Towards the end, sprinkle with the flour, add half a ladle of boiling water, and let it cook for a little while. If desired, add sugar, vinegar or wine.