St. Martin's Day

St. Martin’s Day in Skåne

By Annelie Mannertorn

The plump and good-natured goose has become somewhat of a symbol for Skåne. This is perhaps due to the fact that the province’s open landscape is a natural habitat for the goose, where it has thrived since the Stone Age. Or perhaps it is because of the culinary qualities of the tender and tasty goose, an important consideration in a food-loving region such as Skåne.

Ever since the Middle Ages, the goose has had a special place in the calendar: St. Martin’s Day, or Martinmas, on the 11th of November. However, because we in Sweden are impatient to celebrate the evening before, it is at dinner-time on the 10th of November, called Mårten Gås in Swedish, that the most authentic of Skåne meals is put on the table: the goose dinner.

It is a generous, grand, and painstakingly prepared meal, with the succulent goose at centre stage.

The plump and good-natured goose has become something of a symbol for Skåne. Skanörs Gästis has its own goose-crossing. Every afternoon during the summer months, guests can watch the geese being guided across the road. It is also possible to send goose-mail. Photo: skane.com ©sydpol.com

The 10th of November is admittedly Martin Luther’s birthday, but he had nothing whatsoever to do with the tradition of celebrating with goose. We do, however, know that the real Martin was a roman soldier, then bishop, and later canonised Saint Martin. He would hardly have come up with the idea of eating such a rich and filling food as goose himself, funnily enough, being an ascetic person. Aside from this, the shy man hated geese, because he was given away by cackling gaggle of them when he tried to hide from the Pope’s men who were looking to name him bishop of Tours. Once ascended to the bishop’s throne, he took revenge by encouraging an annual slaughter of the traitors. Whether or not this is a tall tale, it is in any case true that goose has been eaten in honour of St. Martin since 371.

In actual fact, it has always been natural to celebrate and gorge oneself at this time of the year. The work in the fields and fishing waters was finished for the season, the geese were fatted, and the drinks were matured. It was even St. Martin who supposedly coined the phrase, “After Martinmas, the wine is good!”. In Skåne’s agricultural society, it was around this time that people settled their accounts, changed alderman, and repaid loans in kind. This was an excellent opportunity for feasts and St. Martin’s Day came in handy. It was not only goose that was consumed at these several-day-long feasts on the farms, everything that could be found in the newly filled larders was eaten and drunk.

Most people choose to locate the celebration of Martinmas in restaurants these days. A genuine goose dinner demands a couple of days of preparations if everything is to be done correctly. Simply carrying home the splendid goose, that can weigh up to seven kilos, is an

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achievement. The best way to savour the goose is in genuine surroundings in Skåne, at some inn out in the countryside. Here, you will often find a special regard for traditions. At Skanörs Gästis in Skåne, the goose is truly a living element of the surroundings, because during the summer there is a goose show after every evening meal. A little goose boy and girl in oldfashioned clothes guide their flock of geese over the special goose-crossing that is of course signposted by a sign with a goose on it!

Celebrating Martinmas in a restaurant, preferably a genuine inn in Skåne, has its advantages. Martinmas celebrations occur here and there throughout Sweden, but it is the people of Skåne who are most faithful to the tradition. Photo: skane.com ©sydpol.com

We don’t know exactly how the goose was prepared and eaten at the time of the extravagant feasts during the 16th and 17th centuries, when the goose dinner was highly fashionable among the nobility and aristocracy in Sweden. However, the considerable amounts of traditional spices that are still used in a genuine Martinmas dinner testify to its ancient beginnings.

The traditional goose dinner demands a lot, not only of the person preparing it, but also of the guest. There is a lot to be eaten, and it takes some time, something we forget these days.

The meal should preferably begin with a real medieval speciality, svartsoppa (“black soup”), made with goose or pig blood that has been simmered with herbs such as ginger, cinnamon, allspice, bay leaf, apple peel, and a splash of some noble liquid to bring out the typical soursweet flavour of this delicacy. The soup should be topped with tough crispy giblets made up of what was left over when the goose went into the oven: skin, offal, and a little bit of this and that. To be honest, it must be said that the svartsoppa’s place in the traditional goose dinner is said to have been invented by an inn in Stockholm called Piperska Muren, in the 19th century.

The traditional way for farmers in Skåne to prepare for the heavy goose dinner was sensible enough. They would eat another Swedish speciality, the easily-digested boiled ling, but this delicacy has since been moved to “julbordet”, the traditional Christmas buffet.

After the soup, the well-cooked goose is brought in, having been slowly roasted in the oven, filled with scented apples from Skåne, thyme, and maybe one or two prunes. Beautifully presented in slices on the plate, it is then joined by even more apples, and red cabbage with cloves. Of course, there should also be some substantial tender potatoes, preferably glazed in goose fat. The finishing touch is a velvety cream sauce, rounded-off with a little sour jelly.

The sweet to finish the meal should preferably be a delicious pie stuffed with apples and served with custard, or a speciality of Skåne, a genuine spettkaka cake with all the trimmings

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– ice cream, cream, and berries. Those that are really strict will see to it that there are apples from Skåne in the pie… A generous meal like this should be served on a table in Skåne, but don’t believe that the tradition of Martinmas is reserved only for those from the province.

Celebration of St. Martin’s Day occurs here and there throughout the country, but it is the people of Skåne who have really been true to the tradition. This is probably because the goose, the country’s oldest domestic fowl, is still a living element of rural Skåne. In the rest of Sweden, the breeding of geese more or less died out at the end of the 18th century when crop rotation was no longer used.

Geese played a natural part in farming as they were especially at home on the tillage fields that lay fallow. However, it was in Skåne’s open landscape that the geese could live and thrive, for here there is plenty of space. It is a good thing then that Skåne has its own species of bird, the Skåne goose, the largest and most elegant of the goose varieties found in the country. The geese in this southern province live freely and contentedly out-of-doors where they can help themselves to corn and grass in abundance, unlike their French brothers and sisters, it might be fair to say.

It is well-known that geese in France are subjected to force-feeding, in order to be able to provide the delicacy fois gras d’oie, which translated literally means “fat liver from goose”. In other words, the geese in Skåne are agreeable, contented animals, that live a life that can very much be described as politically correct in this ecological and animal friendly age. Who knows – maybe this knowledge can help us to allow ourselves to enjoy the traditional goose dinner that little bit more?

The goose, our oldest domestic fowl, is still a living element of rural Skåne.

Photo: skane.com © Gunnar Magnusson

Svartsoppa Serves 8-10 Svartsoppa (“black soup”) is at its best when allowed to mature for a day before it is served.

Clean the goose heart and gizzard. Seperate the wings and neck. Cook with the goose liver, the skin of the neck, and soup vegetables in lightly salted water for 29-30 minutes. Skim off the broth during the first 5-10 minutes, and strain when it is thickened. Bring the broth up to 2 litres by thinning out with chicken broth. Dice two sour apples and 4-6 prunes, cover with water and cook for 15-20 minutes, strain and put to one side. Bring the broth to the boil and thicken with 4-6 tablespoons of beurre manié. Thin out with some of the liquid from the apples until the broth has a pleasant sour taste. Spice with thyme, marjoram, some whole cloves, and one teaspoon each of cinnamon and ginger. Flavour with 1 decilitre of red wine, 4-5 centilitres of port wine, and the same of congac. Allow the soup to cook for 20-30 minutes, then lower the heat and slowly add 4 decilitres of fresh goose or pig’s blood to the broth, ensuring it is kept at a simmer. Allow the soup to mature for 10-12 hours. Gently warm over a low heat, flavour with more herbs or liquid from the apples. Serve with warm giblets, cooked apple wedges, and prunes.

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Roast Goose Serves 8-10 5-6 kg goose 1 lemon 2 stock cubes Salt, white pepper 6-8 apples 20 stoneless prunes 2 tbsp flour Preheat oven to 175°C. Take out, clean and dry the bird. Halve the lemon and squeeze it out inside the goose. Season the bird inside and out with salt and pepper. Cut the apples in wedges, mix with the prunes and put them in the bird. Place the bird with one leg uppermost in the roasting pan.

Place the goose in the oven. Dissolve the stock cubes in water. Roast the bird for 20 minutes per leg, then breast side up. Pour the stock over the goose and baste every 10 minutes. When the bird has been roasting for about 2 hours, test the thigh with a skewer.

If the meat juices are completely clear and the pin slides easily into the meatiest part, the goose is ready. Pour off the juices. Raise the temperature to 225°C and baste the bird with a couple of tablespoons of cold water. Leave the oven-door ajar and the skin of the goose will become crispy. Remove as much of the fat as possible from the juices, but save it in a cup.

Whisk the flour in a little cold water and mix with the juices, then bring to the boil. Add some tablespoons of the filling to the sauce, flavour with some dripping from the goose, salt and pepper. Slice the bird and serve with spiced red cabbage, cream sauce, jelly, and potatoes.

Recipe from Swedish Radio’s food programme Menu.

Annelie Mannertorn is a freelance journalist, economist and consultant, and reserves a special place in her heart for food and drink from Skåne.

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