Eating a Goose on St Martins day
November 6th, 2009
Here, in the northern Wine district of lower Austria, around the end of October almost every restaurant announces the coming “Gansl Essen” (goose eating) as an event you should not miss. Usually you order in time so that the chef has time to prepare the bird, to be crispy on your plate. Red cabbage and dumplings are traditional side dishes. We had our Goose at restaurant Neunlauf in Wilfersdorf this year.
In research of where the tradition of goose eating on St Martins day comes from, I found following information on the BBC website:
in before St Martin’s nameday on 11 November is celebrated to this day. As it coincides with the day when Martin Luther1 was baptised, it is celebrated by Catholics and Protestants alike.
A celebration takes place in the basilica near Tours, France, which contains St Martin’s remains. In the countries of Germany, the Netherlands, Austria and parts of Switzerland, processions take place, often led by a ‘St Martin’ on a horse, sometimes even featuring the beggar. In some regions, children with lanterns go from house to house, singing and collecting sweets. In other regions children and adults go through the streets, carrying torches or home-made lanterns and singing St Martin songs, sometimes accompanied by a brass band. The procession often ends in front of a St Martin’s bonfire, where a sweetbread in the shape of a bishop is usually distributed and eaten.
So where do the geese come into the story?
Long after St Martin’s death, two legends were told connecting St Martin with geese. One legend says that on hearing that he was to be the new Bishop of Tours, St Martin hid in a goose barn, thinking he wasn’t worthy of the honourable office. The loud honking of the geese betrayed him, though. Another legend says that noisy geese disturbed a service St Martin held, which annoyed him so much that they ended up as a roast on the table and have done so ever since.
Facts and Beliefs
Since the 6th Century, the seven weeks of fasting leading up to Christmas (’Old Advent’) started on St Martin’s day, or Martini. It was the day when the financial and the farming year used to end. Cattle and fowl that wouldn’t make it through the winter were slaughtered and salted for conservation. Like sharecropping, geese - which by this time of year were fully grown and plump enough - were either part of the rent paid to the lord, or were given by the lord to the tenants who attended on him. It was the day when farm labourers and handmaidens were dismissed and given a goose as a gift. New farm labourers and handmaidens were also hired on this day. The families prepared for the dark times of winter by the fireside.
The Martin’s goose was said to have healing powers. Its fat (rubbed in) was thought to help against gout and its blood against fever. A feather from the left wing, burnt and mixed with wine, was believed to be a miracle cure for epilepsy. Even the wishbone of a goose had a meaning: if two people held one end each and broke it, the one with the larger end was thought to have their wish fulfilled. If the bone was pale and white, the winter was expected to be meagre and cold but if it was of a red colour, supplies were expected to last through the winter. In Germany, there is a tradition of eating geese in winter, starting with the ‘Martin’s goose’ on 11 November. From that day on, you’ll find a meal of goose with red cabbage and potato dumplings on the menu of most restaurants until about Christmas, when the season ends. (BBC Home Page)
Entry Filed under: Food, Restaurants, Tips for trips and outings
