Saint Valentine
“Valentine’s Day”

Saint Valentine’s day is on the 14th of February but, are you aware that the celebration itself is steeped in legend and mystery with even the motives behind the day’s creation and St. Valentine himself being shrouded in controversy and doubt?

Traditionally Saint Valentine’s Day embraces a time of year that is historically associated with love and fertility. It encompasses the sacred marriage of Zeus and Hera in Ancient Athens and the Ancient Roman festival of Lupercus, the god of fertility.

At the time priests of Lupercus would perform a traditional purification ritual involving slaughtering goats as a sacrifice to god, and consuming wine, (it is not certain just how much wine was consumed) then afterward s the priest would run through the streets of Rome holding above their heads the skins of the slaughtered goats and touching anyone they met. This compelled hordes of young women to the streets in the belief being touched by the priest or the skins of the goats would help improve their chances of conceiving and later enduring an easy childbirth. There does however, remain some speculation as to the exact date of this celebration.

In contrast, the first official Saint Valentine’s Day declared on 14th of February by Pope Galasius in 496, was in memory of a 3rd century martyred priest in Rome; a Bishop Valentine. The mystery remains as to whether Pope Galasius was honoring a 3rd century priest or, two other martyred priests associated with the 14th of February. No one is quite sure.

One of the two other martyred priest was Bishop of Interamna (modern Terni) and the other apparently suffered in Africa along with a number of companions. Both were also know as Saint Valentine – Nothing further is known about these two Saint Valentines but it is the priest in Rome (Bishop Valentine) that has become the most widely acclaimed of the three martyred priest .

As I understand it the young priest (Bishop Valentine) rose to distinction after betraying Emperor Claudius in 270 AD by conducting illegitimate wedding ceremonies in the capital. Emperor Claudius claimed that married men made poor soldiers and consequently decreed that all marriages of younger men would be outlawed. Bishop Valentine, however, maintained that marriage was part of God’s plan and purpose for the world. He continued to conduct marriages in secret between young people, sometimes as young as twelve, in the name of love.

His success gained him unwelcome notoriety, which became Bishop Valentine’s downfall. He was jailed and ultimately beheaded, but not before he fell in love with the jailor’s daughter. It is thought that on the evening of his execution the bishop passed her a note which read "from your Valentine". This story has blossomed into the defining tradition of Valentine’s Day.

Portobello Mushroom Saute Recipe

Ingredients:

* 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided

* 1 1/2 tablespoons garlic flavored olive oil (or fresh garlic)

* 1/4 onion, cut into chunks (or shallots)

* 2 portobello mushroom caps, sliced

* salt and black pepper to taste

* freshly grated Parmesan

* freshly grated Asiago cheese

Directions:

Warm 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil and 1 1/2 tablespoons garlic flavored olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.

Stir in onions and mushrooms.

Reduce heat to low.

cook until the mushrooms are soft and blackened and the onions are black around the edges.

(Add additional olive oil as needed.)

Turn the heat off.

Drizzle with 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil.

Season with salt and pepper.

Sprinkle generously with Parmesan and Asiago cheeses.

Serve with steaks, pasta, don’t forget the wine.

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