So… Croatians are superstitious. You may already know this. I already knew this. But did you know that wine is not really wine until it has been baptised? Yes, that’s just how superstitious they are.
On Martinje or St Martin’s Day, which falls today (11 November), you can find Croatians all around the country having their wine baptised. Before this date, wine is not actually wine. It is an evil sinful thing called mošt or must in English – an evil, sinful thing which C and I have been indulging in quite readily over the past few weeks.
The last time we went na selo (into the countryside) we were sent home with a bottle of mošt. We left it a few days before opening it because, well, sometimes we just have that much willpower. Anyway, a few days later and we finally opened the bottle and BOY did it fizz! It was like sasparilla or some other fizzy drink I’ve heard about but never seen. It had been quietly fermenting away in the bottle while we had been uncharacteristically ignoring it. I can see why those crazy peasants – ahem – I mean, I can see why those superstitious Croatians think that mošt is the drink of the devil, full of sin and impurities. It fizzes right up your nose and gets right into your blood.
Ah… mošt. You were quite the drink. But now our good times are over as you become our other good friend wine…
