According to legend, on a cold and stormy autumn day, a Roman soldier, named Martin, was traveling his way on horseback, when he came across a beggar who was hungry and cold.
The soldier, known for his generosity, took off the cloak he was wearing and used his sword to cut it in half, covering the beggar with one of the pieces. Further on, he found another poor, cold man and offered him the other half.
Without a cloak, Martinho continued his journey in the cold and wind when, suddenly and as if by miracle, the sky opened, driving away the storm. The sun's rays began to warm the earth and the good weather lasted for about three days.
Since then, every year, around November 11th, these hot days appear, which came to be called "S. Martinho's summer".
The chestnut season is officially open with the arrival of November 11th. And this São Martinho they may even arrive "hot", but certainly "less good" and also "more expensive" than last year.
The reason? There are and are not chestnuts. Contradictory? Let's do it by
steps. Chestnut production should even register an increase of around 15% compared to the previous year in light of projections by the National Statistics Institute (INE) which, from the perspective of the director of RefCast - Associação Portuguesa da Castanha, "should not go too far of reality." It is, however, necessary to take into account that the previous campaign was "terrible" with "a drop of around 50 to 60% compared to normal".