Having a turkey for Christmas dinner has been a cherished tradition in many Irish households in more recent years and decades, but that was not always the case. In fact, goose was once the traditional bird of Christmas in Ireland. Most farmhouses would rear a goose for their own family’s Christmas meal, plus a few extra for the market. Indeed, goose fairs were held in many towns and villages. These birds were raised in the old-fashioned way, roaming free range, fed on corn and scraps from the woman of the house, plus what they could pick from the fields and hedgerows. This resulted in a jolly tasty and quite magnificent Christmas feast, with the succulent goose symbolising abundance and festivity.
Geese are surprisingly lazy in that they won’t fly away if there is a constant supply of food and shelter! Indeed, they were easy to shepherd to and fro between fields and a warm barn at night, away from the foxes. And, as with all other animals, no part of the goose was wasted. Goose soup, goose gravy and goose drisheen would be on the menu for days after the feast! And, today, of course, goose fat is the most trusted and popular choice of fat by many cooks and chefs, when cooking roast potatoes!
Thus, even though turkey has now taken over the top spot for Irish Christmas dinner, there remains many discerning diners who still prefer a golden roast goose, and will order their Christmas goose in advance of Christmas Day.
For those geese who survive the Christmas dinner trade, their eggs remain as a prized and precious delicacy. Goose eggs are really big, delicious and can be cooked in the same way as hen eggs. And, just as goose meat is more flavoursome than turkey or chicken meat, goose eggs have more taste than chicken eggs!
So say our Primary Seven students!
For, following our return to school after the Christmas holidays, our class teacher - Mrs Smith - brought a special gift of seven goose eggs into class. Her good neighbour - David - who rears geese, ducks, hens and turkeys, had surprised her with this wonderful gift, and she wanted to share them with the students in our school. Much fun was had in guessing the type of eggs in the box, especially with our little friends in the younger classrooms. David had also explained that geese traditionally lay their eggs between the months of February and May in each year. However, because of the exceptionally mild weather conditions during the month of December, the geese had obviously become confused, and had started laying their eggs at least two months early.
When compared with hens’ eggs, we agreed that goose eggs are richer, fattier, heavier and more deeply coloured. They are also about three times bigger than a hen’s egg. Another big difference is their shells! Goose eggshells are much harder than chicken eggshells and require much more force to crack them open!
We very much enjoyed handling, observing and studying the goose eggs and finding out about their many qualities. Best of all, however, was the delicious French toast that we cooked with our seven goose eggs, ate and enjoyed! Please share in our photographs and video below. We hope you learn a little about goose eggs, as we did, and convey our most sincere thanks to David for his kindness.
