Evening star., 1922-12-24
Mystery of Christmas Goose


tai goose population Of the south of
France alone is set at 8.740.500 birds.
mostly grade. having an average
agricultural value Of $3.50 apiece and a
merchantable value. after fattening.
up to IS. Which represents a total
goose asset, for q single section. of.
say. $39.000,000.
The meat of these geese. commonly
is not particularly perfumed or
culiar, special food. For lack of
tenderness. the Toulouse goose is
victim Of its liver-poor, big. grave
bird!
All. from lettering in the, gossipy
high road 1t is hailed one day to
close pen. not big enough to stretch
in. strewn so deep with straw that
it sinks in up to the neck. There all
is warm. dark. silent, fit for medita-
tion and digestion only. Thrice
day, the farmer comes and stuffs MIR.
Goose with corn-with the use of
funnel and ramrod. No foolish po-
liteness! A goose can digest quart
of corn per day during Ave weeks.
and may, in truth. absorb profitably
ffty-five quarts in thirty-five days.
The corn is not soaked. but, to facili-
tate. a. little water Is given the bird
in course Of stuffing. Often salt and
cOrnmeal are added. Some farmers
give soup. others milk. The object is
to enlarge the goose's liver.
4 X
At the critical moment they sell
for killing. Every child knows
when the fattening is finished. The
tail spreads like a fan. its feathers no
longer touching each other. Then the
liver is ready.
Birds weighing up to thirty-five
pounds often develop enormous livers.
Specimens weighing from four and
half pounds to five and half pounds
are not rare. and the potting concerns
pay up to 81 per pound. for the best
quality even dearer.
The remainder of the goose meat
from such birds Is goose -conf1t. ex-
cept. perhaps. the breasts for smok-
ing. Here is that vast supply of win
ter health food for the people. not
dear. 1t comes. even, to Paris. All the
rare qualities are present in it-only
lacking tenderness and perfume. 1t is
not the true Christmas goose, ah non!
The true Christmas goose of Paris
is of very different breed. 200 years
and more acclimated around Mans
let US say Mans. as they say Arge-
teuil for best asparagus.
1t is tender. delicate. not overlarge
and Of a family wild game flavor. due
to far east ancestry not really remote
whereas the Toulouse bird has been
evolved on the spot, time out of mind
In the days of the French East India
Company, a choice breed of oriental
geese was brought to France. The
Mans goose is from it-weighing from
six pounds to thirteen pounds. and
deemed. without doubt, the most sue
culent and meritorious of Christmas
fowl. Why. those old East Indians
themselves knew it's queer qualities
1t is roasted on a turning spit, if
possible.
So. in the memory Of thousands of
successful men in Paris. grandmother
roasted the Christmas bird over hot
wood embers in the primitive fire.
place of the old farmhouse Looking
back to that grand feast, when they
were always hungry peasant kids. the
aroma of roast goose brings tears Of
worthy sentiment to eyes of real
tough business men-and a conviction
that no other fowl can take its place.
When the European Cat home in Eu-
rope) has made fortune, large or
modest. it's the same thing. he just
orders up roast goose for winter
feasts, as matter of course 1t
must be done just SO. In cities, where
folks cook So much with gas, they
send the goose to that picturesque
relic of old times. the public roaster
The public roaster still exists even
in modern Paris. At Tours the A. Z.
T boys used to take friends to that
corner of the old houses" where the
carved-wood front of a public
roaster Of the time Of Christopher Co
lumbus still shows the old counter
window on the street, where roast
ing pans were handed in and out by
families.
Here in Paris all such fine old
fronts are gone. The public roaster
combines with game-and-poultry
dealer. In the back shop a vast chin
ney. full of red-hot embers,. sports
three ranks of, spits, all turning.
turning. while the luscious juices
drip, and all the birds are basted,
basted. basted, with n vast long
handled spoon.