10 Nov - St Martin's Day (or "Martin Goose")

10 Nov - St Martin's Day (or "Martin Goose"):St Martin of Tours originally took the goose as his personal symbol, because when trying to avoid being ordained bishop he had hidden in a goose pen, where he was betrayed by the cackling of the geese. He celebrates his nameday in November, when the geese are ready for killing. St Martin’s Day was an important medieval autumn feast, and the custom of eating goose spread to Sweden from France. Black soup is served with entrails of various kinds, as well as goose-liver sausage, stewed prunes and potatoes. The goose is stuffed with apples and prunes and roasted slowly while being constantly basted in its own fat. The carcass is then boiled in water, which is thickened into sauce. The custom is particularly popular in Skåne in southern Sweden, where goose farming has long been practised, but it has gradually spread northwards. (source: Sweden.se)