In Hungary, November 11th marks the first day of the year to drink 2011 wines. Also, the geese are fully fattened around this time. Since 1171, Christians have used this as a great excuse to drink lots of wine and stuff themselves on geese.
Local restaurants offer goose specials throughout the month. Smoked goose breasts now hang at the market butcher stalls. Tubs of goose fat pile high on the counters, and the coolers are filled with fresh goose legs, necks, livers, feet, and other parts we do not recognize.
Our knowledge of the Hungarian language is abysmal, but we’ve learned enough of the numbers, basic greetings, and the names of foods to shop to our heart’s content at the markets. In a pinch, pantomiming and pointing are invaluable. For our St Marton’s day feast, we managed to purchase smoked goose breast, goose fat, and a goose neck. But that’s just dinner.
For lunch, we took the easy route and stopped at a restaurant with a drawing of a goose on their chalkboard. We ordered creamy lentil goose soup, goose consomme, and goose leg roasted in red wine accompanied by potatoes and cabbage braised in goose fat – just 3 of the 10 goose-centric menu items available.
There’s a saying in Hungary that if you eat goose on St Marton’s day, you won’t go hungry for the year. We figure we’re safe for the next decade.
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