Three weeks to Mårten Gås: start the goose, open the Barbera
Svartsoppa, crisp goose legs and äppelkaka with vanilla sauce. A calm three-week plan for Martinmas, and four wines that love goose, prunes and apples.
In Skåne, the evening of 10 November belongs to the goose. Mårtensafton is the eve of St Martin's Day, and the southern Swedish feast that goes with it is one of the most generous meals of the year: black soup, roast goose with apples and prunes, and apple cake swimming in vanilla sauce. This year the 10th falls on a Tuesday, so plenty of you will move the dinner to the weekend before. Either way, you have three weeks. That is plenty, if you start now.
I grew up with a different calendar. In Piedmont we come out of the vendemmia and go straight into Ognissanti on 1 November, then truffles and long Sunday lunches. But a goose with prunes is a dish any nonna would understand, and the wines from my side of the Alps are made for it.
The menu, and why I roast legs
- Svartsoppa: the dark, sweet-spiced goose blood soup flavoured with cloves, allspice, ginger and a splash of port or madeira, served with goose liver sausage, apple and prunes. Many people in Skåne buy it ready-made in season, and there is no shame in that.
- Roast goose: the centrepiece, with apples, prunes, red cabbage and potatoes, and a proper gravy.
- Äppelkaka with vaniljsås: a buttery apple cake under a crumb or sponge, with warm or cold vanilla sauce. Bake it the day before.
A whole goose is beautiful, but it is a lot of bird for a small oven and a lot of fat to manage while carving at the table. Legs are easier. They cook evenly, stay juicy, and the skin turns crisp while the meat goes soft and tender underneath. Allow one leg per person, or one between two if the menu is long. Order them from your butcher now; fresh goose is often sold to order in November.
Recipe: roast goose legs with apples prunes and port gravy
Recipe: braised red cabbage
Guide: roasting resting
Your Mårten Gås countdown
- This week (week 43): Fix the date and the guest list. Order goose legs, plus extra wings or necks for stock. Decide if you make svartsoppa from scratch (order goose blood too) or buy it ready-made.
- Week 44: Buy the wine and any port or madeira for the soup and gravy. Pick up prunes, spices and a good bag of baking apples.
- Week 45: Roast the wings and necks and make a dark goose stock. Freeze it in portions for the gravy and the soup.
- Two days before: Collect the goose legs. Pat them dry, salt them and leave them uncovered on a rack in the fridge so the skin dries.
- The day before: Braise the red cabbage, bake the äppelkaka, make the vanilla sauce and finish the svartsoppa if making it. Everything tastes better after a night's rest.
- On the day: Roast the legs, make the gravy from the pan juices and stock, warm the soup and the cabbage. Open the reds an hour before dinner.
What to pour with goose, prunes and apples
Goose is rich and the garnish is sweet and fruity, so the wine needs good acidity to cut through the fat and enough fruit to stand next to the prunes. Heavy, oaky reds tend to taste flat here. Bright, medium-bodied wines do better.
What to pour
- Barbera d'Asti: My first choice. Juicy dark cherry fruit, low tannin and a lively acidity that slices through goose fat. It loves the prunes.
- Langhe Nebbiolo: Barolo's younger cousin from the same grape. Roses, red fruit and firm tannins that grip the crisp skin. Give it an hour in a decanter.
- Red Burgundy: Pinot Noir with earthy, red-berry fruit. The classic French match for goose and duck, and gentle with the apples.
- German Riesling Spätlese: Off-dry, with apple and stone fruit and bright acidity. The sweetness meets the prunes, and it carries on happily into the äppelkaka.
- Alcohol-free: A spiced chai apple spritz, or a dry sparkling apple juice with a squeeze of lemon. The bitterness and bubbles do the job wine does.
Recipe: alcohol free chai apple spritz
Guide: decanting wine
Serving it so it feels easy
Serve the svartsoppa in small cups as you sit down. It is intense, and a few spoonfuls are enough. Rest the goose legs for ten minutes while you finish the gravy, and keep the reds slightly cool, around 16 °C, so they stay fresh against the fat. Pour the Riesling with the soup or save it for dessert.
Bella's tip: Save every spoonful of goose fat from the roasting tin. Strain it into a clean jar and keep it in the fridge. Potatoes roasted in it the following week are the real reward for all this planning.
A goose with prunes and a glass of Barbera. Skåne and Piedmont agree on more than you think.
Guide: food wine pairing
