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amagostu/magüestu--roasting of chestnuts--asar castañas

Posted: Tue Nov 06, 2007 1:44 am
by is
Amagostu, pronounced ah-mah-GHOST-ooh, Magüestu, pronounced mah-GWEST-ooh, sustantivu (noun). Magosto is used in westernmost Asturias. The fall ritual of chestnut roasting and drinking of unfermented cider (sidra dulce), or wine. A festive gathering in the countryside in Asturias and Galicia, usually around a fire or hearth. An amagostu can also mean a messy or confusing event, a fiasco or legal trap. Verb form is magostar: to roast.

Usage examples:
Ayeri na escuela fiximos un magüestu. [We roasted chestnuts at school yesterday]
Nel amagostu d’esti añu fartéime muitu. [I stuffed myself at this year’s chestnut roasting]
Vaya amagostu armou Xuan Fernán al vender los praos de la l.lanada. [Xuan Fernán really set things off by selling the fields up on the moor]
Bon magosto! [We wish you a happy chestnut roasting]

Folk wisdom:
Magüestu por Ñanvidá y fuxó la señardá. [A chestnut roasting at Christmas can make the blues fade away]
Fila, esfoyaza y magüestu, con sos lloques alegríes, nun dexen nada en so puestu. [An evening of spinning wool, husking corn or chestnut roasting, with all its hearty fun, is guaranteed to leave nothing in its place]