Pečená kačica s lokšami a kapustou

The story

Roast duck or goose with lokše and cabbage is the menu of the Slovak husacie and kačacie hody, goose and duck feasts that Wikipedia's overview of Slovak cuisine lists as a festive meal. The season is autumn: the news site Startitup puts the core of it from September to November and advises booking a weekend table ahead. In Slovenský Grob it points to Husacina u Galika and Gurmánsky Grob, which has a wood-fired oven, and it lists feasts from Trnava and Nitra to Liptov and Košice where red cabbage and lokše come with the bird. Lokše themselves are thin flatbreads of boiled potatoes, flour and salt, rolled very thin and baked dry on a hot stove top, then spread with lard, preferably goose lard. The same flatbreads also turn up in South Moravia across the Czech border. For an American winter Sunday, a supermarket Pekin duck works well: boil the potatoes the day before, start the cabbage while the duck roasts, and bake the lokše in the last half hour.