Weihnachtsgans

The story

Roast goose on the German Christmas table has roots that reach back past Christmas to the feast of Saint Martin on November 11. According to legend, Saint Martin hid in a goose pen to avoid being named bishop, but the geese gave him away with their loud honking. As "punishment," goose has ended up on the plate on St. Martin's Day ever since, a custom that in many regions spread to Christmas, when the goose, larger and more festive than a chicken, became the natural choice for the most important family meal of the year. A stuffing of apples, onion, orange and thyme, and long, slow roasting for crisp skin, call for planning ahead. Ordering the goose from the butcher weeks in advance was, and in many German households still is, one of the first signs that Christmas preparations have begun. In recent years a smaller, less expensive duck has taken the goose's place in many homes, but for families who insist on tradition, goose remains the true Christmas roast.