Milan, the futuristic city and skyscrapers still preserves, in the shadow of the Madonnina, some of its ancient traditions, linked to A past with a peasant flavor and a city that had not yet taken the road to become a metropolis.
Among these, the tradition, almost a must, of Eat in San Biagio a bite of the last advanced panettone until February.
San Biagio is a tradition of Milan little known outside the city borders, but very useful to finish the panettone advanced by the Christmas holidays. Why is the panettone of San Biagio called? Soon said: February 3 is the day in which the church recalls San Biagio, a figure who according to the Milanese popular tradition ‘Benedis the throat and él nas’, in short “blesses the throat and nose”.
The Milanese, in fact, They usually eat a panettone on this day (even if it is not very fresh, indeed better).
San Biagio was a Armenian doctor, who lived in the third century AD: it is said that he performed a miracle when a desperate mother brought his dying son for a bone stuck in his throat. San Biagio gave him a large breadcrumbs who, going into the throat, removed the bone by saving the boy. Needless to add that, after suffering the martyrdom, Biagio was made holy and declared protector of the throat.
The link with the city of Milan, however, arrived much later and refers to a peasant legend: A massage before Christmas brought a panettone to a friar, to blessed him. Being very busy, the friar – which was called desire and was evidently very delicious – told her to leave it and move on to the following days to take it back.
The woman forgot and Friar Desiderio, after having blessed him, began to blur him, until he noticed he had finished it. The woman came back to asking for her blessed panettone just on February 3, the day of San Biagio: the friar prepared to deliver the empty envelope of it well to apologize, but at the time of delivering it he realized that in the envelope a big panettone had appeared the big panettone the double compared to the original one.
The miracle was attributed to San Biagio, who kicked the tradition of bringing an advanced panettone to bless every 3 February and then eat it for breakfast with the family to protect against the ailments of the throat.
