It’s Primo maggio, now crack 3 walnuts

Buona Festa del Lavoro, Happy Internationall Worker’s Day, May Day or Lei Day depending on where you are in the world. The current spring weather, unpredictable as it is, does have an upside no matter how glum the forecast – can you believe this view? Even my neighbor called out to make sure I had spotted the rainbow. This was taken yesterday, and now it being May 1st and a national holiday in Italy, programmed events and festivities of all sorts are in full force. An ancient walnuts-in-wine ritual from Paganico Sabino (Lazio) is one that really grabbed my interest and I we hope to experience it for ourselves in the future.

For the Rito del Kalennemàju in Paganico Sabino, determining the outcome of the harvest is as simple as floating your walnuts. This is done in the morning before eating, and the following phrase is recited just before dropping the freshly cracked kernels into a glass of red:

San Felippu e Jacu
Faccio a Calennemaju
Se moro affonno
Se no retorno

I don’t know the dialect to offer a precise english translation, but the gist of it is that if the walnuts float, it means a good season. The ritual is followed by the Sagra dei Vertuti that involves a soup made with a mixed variety of legumes and cereals, olive oil and local herbs. I threw together my own version using barley, borlotti beans, coco blancs, black-eyed peas, leeks, thyme, parsley, and santoreggia.

This is the first time where we’ve busted out the wine before 9am (and still in our jammies), but I guess we can expect a bountiful 2014? Still, judging from this video, Paganico Sabino is where all the fun’s at.