| Smultronställen |
My family is from the south of Sweden, Skåne, where it's time to cook your goose. This celebrated medieval holiday, which of tradition takes place on November 11th or Mårtens day, is named after Martin av Tours who, as the legend goes, hid in with the geese when they tried to crown him bishop. The geese cackled and gave him away. Ha, ha! Not everyone wants to get into politics. See http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/one's+goose+is+cooked
The Swedes of rank and privilege often ate goose before fasting for 40 days (the medieval diet). This was most likely not the case for the poor people of Skåne whom Linne (the famous Swedish botanist Carl von Linne, 1707 - 1778) during his trip there in 1749 found to be among the poorest and most miserable that he had ever seen. They were so cut off that the villagers of Skanör and Falsterbo didn't even know one another! (These villages are only about 2 miles or 3.2 kilometers apart.)
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| From Wikipedia |
On the positive side the people of Falsterbo were spared the plague because they were so isolated. Not so today, now it's a cosmopolitan village that's just the prettiest place. Check out the geese walking around!
Pictures from Malmös tekniska Museum below honoring Carl von Linne, our famous scholar. Now go cook your goose! You can also serve it for Christmas as this entrepid soul did, check out the recipe here, http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Scandinavian-Roast-Christmas-Goose-20112
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| Skånska resa, by Carl von Linne, copyright 1751 |
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