bread crumbs, 1-1/2 oz. of butter, salt and pepper to taste, 1 egg.
_Choosing and Trussing_.--Select a goose with a clean white skin, plump
breast, and yellow feet: if these latter are red, the bird is old.
Should the weather permit, let it hang for a few days: by so doing, the
flavour will be very much improved. Pluck, singe, draw, and carefully
wash and wipe the goose; cut off the neck close to the back, leaving the
skin long enough to turn over; cut off the feet at the first joint, and
separate the pinions at the first joint. Beat the breast-bone flat with
a rolling-pin, put a skewer through the under part of each wing, and
having drawn up the legs closely, put a skewer into the middle of each,
and pass the same quite through the body. Insert another skewer into the
small of the leg, bring it close down to the side bone, run it through,
and do the same to the other side. Now cut off the end of the vent, and
make a hole in the skin sufficiently large for the passage of the rump,
in order to keep in the seasoning.
[Illustration: ROAST GOOSE.]
_Mode_.--Make a sage-and-onion stuffing of the above ingredients, by
recipe No. 504; put it into the body of the goose, and secure it firmly
at both ends, by passing the rump through the hole made in the skin, and
the other end by tying the skin of the neck to the back; by this means
the seasoning will not escape. Put it down to a brisk fire, keep it well
basted, and roast from 1-1/2 to 2 hours, according to the size. Remove
the skewers, and serve with a tureen of good gravy, and one of well-made
apple-sauce. Should a very highly-flavoured seasoning be preferred, the
onions should not be parboiled, but minced raw: of the two methods, the
mild seasoning is far superior. A ragoût, or pie, should be made of the
giblets, or they may be stewed down to make gravy. Be careful to serve
the goose before the breast falls, or its appearance will be spoiled by
coming flattened to table. As this is rather a troublesome joint to
carve, a _large_ quantity of gravy should not be poured round the goose,
but sent in a tureen.
_Time_.--A large goose, 1-3/4 hour; a moderate-sized one, 1-1/4 to 1-1/2
hour.
_Seasonable_ from September to March; but in perfection from Michaelmas
to Christmas.
_Average cost_, 5s. 6d. each. _Sufficient_ for 8 or 9 persons.
_Note_.--A teaspoonful of made mustard, a saltspoonful of salt, a few
grains of cayenne, mixed with a glass of port wine, are sometimes poured
into the goose by a slit made in the apron. This sauce is, by many
persons, considered an improvement.
[Illustration: EMDEN GOOSE.]
THE GOOSE.--This bird is pretty generally distributed over the
face of the globe, being met with in North America, Lapland,
Iceland, Arabia, and Persia. Its varieties are numerous; but in
England there is only one species, which is supposed to be a
native breed. The best geese are found on the borders of
Suffolk, and in Norfolk and Berkshire; but the largest flocks
are reared in the fens of Lincolnshire and Cambridge. They
thrive best where they have an easy access to water, and large
herds of them are sent every year to London, to be fattened by
the metropolitan poulterers. "A Michaelmas goose," says Dr.
Kitchener, "is as famous in the mouths of the million as the
minced-pie at Christmas; yet for those who eat with delicacy, it
is, at that time, too full-grown. The true period when the goose
is in the highest perfection is when it has just acquired its
full growth, and not begun to harden; if the March goose is
insipid, the Michaelmas goose is rank. The fine time is between
both; from the second week in June to the first in September."
It is said that the Michaelmas goose is indebted to Queen
Elizabeth for its origin on the table at that season. Her
majesty happened to dine on one at the table of an English
baronet, when she received the news of the discomfiture of the
Spanish Armada. In commemoration of this event, she commanded
the goose to make its appearance at table on every Michaelmas.
We here give an engraving of the Emden goose.
TO DRESS A GREEN GOOSE.