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The feast day of St Martin: an age-old rural tradition

For many centuries this festival has marked the end of the harvests and the beginning of the hardships of winter. It is also a time for feasting on fine poultry: plump chickens, geese and fattened ducks, etc. St Martin’s Day is widely celebrated in many European countries and regions of France where it is an opportunity to share a festive meal of St Martin’s Day goose and indulgent slices of Foie Gras on toast.

This period is also called “Eté de la Saint Martin” (St Martin’s Summer) in France, since south-westerly winds often mean that the country enjoys milder weather in mid-November. Nowadays it is primarily a celebration of the arrival of the Foies Gras on the famous Marchés au Gras (fattened poultry markets).

Foie Gras returns on St. Martin’s Day

Geese naturally begin laying their eggs in the spring, with the young goslings raised over the summer to then be fattened once the first maize has been harvested. This traditionally meant that the first Foies Gras of the season arrived on the markets to be sold from producer to customer around mid-November on St Martin’s Day. This was also the period when payments became due from tenant farmers and sharecroppers, and owners received “fattened geese” on St Martin’s Day.

Martin, a symbol of sharing

Martin was a young soldier aged 18 in the early fourth century, already a Christian but not yet a saint, when he cut his cape in two to give half to a beggar shivering with cold. This act of compassion, and many others, made St Martin the most popular saint in Europe. He died of exhaustion from having loved, supported and protected peasants in the most remote rural regions. His funeral took place on 11th November 397 (the date subsequently chosen as his feast day). As a result of his symbolic act of sharing, St Martin has been chosen as the patron saint of Foie Gras, a delicacy which becomes sublime when shared.