The true period when the goose is in its highest perfection, is when it has just acquired its full growth, and not begun to harden. If the March goose is insipid, the Michaelmas goose is rank; the fine time is between both, from the second week in June to the first in September: the leg is not the most tender part of a goose. See Mock Goose (No. 51).
Geese are called green till they are about four months old.
The only difference between roasting these and a full-grown goose, consists in seasoning it with pepper and salt instead of sage and onion, and roasting it for forty or fifty minutes only.
_Obs._ This is one of the least desirable of those insipid premature productions, which are esteemed dainties.
Mind your duck is well cleaned, and wiped out with a clean cloth: for the stuffing, take an ounce of onion and half an ounce of green sage; chop them very fine, and mix them with two ounces, _i. e._ about a breakfast-cupful, of bread-crumbs, a bit of butter about as big as a walnut, a very little black pepper and salt, (some obtuse palates may require warming with a little Cayenne, No. 404,) and the yelk of an egg to bind it; mix these thoroughly together, and put into the duck. For another stuffing, see No. 378. From half to three-quarters of an hour will be enough to roast it, according to the size: contrive to have the feet delicately crisp, as some people are very fond of them; to do this nicely you must have a sharp fire. For sauce, green pease (No. 134), bonne bouche (No. 341), gravy sauce (No. 329), and sage and onion sauce (No. 300).
N.B. If you think the raw onion will make too strong an impression upon the palate, parboil it. Read _Obs._ to No. 59.
To ensure ducks being tender, in moderate weather kill them a few days before you dress them.
To preserve the fat, make a paste of flour and water, as much as will cover the haunch; wipe it with a dry cloth in every part; rub a large sheet of paper all over with butter, and cover the venison with it; then roll out the paste about three-quarters of an inch thick; lay this all over the fat side, and cover it well with three or four sheets of strong white paper, and tie it securely on with packthread: have a strong, close fire, and baste your venison as soon as you lay it down to roast (to prevent the paper and string from burning); it must be well basted all the time.