Pommersche Gänsekeule

Pommersche Gänsekeule belongs to the cold half of the year, when the goose is on the table for Martinmas and Christmas, and the larder speaks louder than the garden. Pomerania cooks it with apples and dried plums, sweet and sour together, what the north calls söötsuur. In the south they reach more quickly for red cabbage, chestnuts, and dumplings; up here the fruit from storage and the fat from the bird do the work. Im Norden anders, im Süden anders.

The deciding technique is the start. I put the legs skin side up in a cool oven and let the heat climb slowly, because goose skin carries more fat than a chicken ever dreamed of, and hard heat at the start tightens the meat before the fat has somewhere to go. Start cool and the fat renders cleanly into the pan. Then the skin can crisp later, when the meat is already tender. Runter mit der Temperatur first, colour later.

The sauce is not from a jar. Nicht aus dem Glas. Onion, root vegetables, apple, dried plums, a little vinegar, and the browned pan juices give you the sweet-sour line this dish needs. Keep the rendered goose fat; roast potatoes in it tomorrow. Weggeworfen wird nichts. Watch the pan near the end: glossy sauce, tender meat, crisp skin. That's the whole business.