On the Hunt for Geese in Amsterdam
Today we went geese hunting. Our hunting grounds were reached within 15 minutes by bicycle from the centre of Amsterdam. Bleary-eyed we set-out at 4.30 am, equipped with gumboots and a thermos of hot chocolate to be on time to meet butcher Jan and hunter Hans at the agreed junction just west of Durgerdam. Jan and Hans took us on an unforgettable expedition that ended with a wild roast goose lunch.
Map of the bycicle trip
We were able to join Hans and Jan to find out what did actually happen with the geese that were being culled by the thousand in and around Amsterdam. To discourage and counter the excessive amounts of geeses attracted to the Schiphol grounds, a new strategy was temporarliy implemented by the province of North Holland: x amount of geese could be shot by certified hunters in collaboration with landowners in a 10 km radius around Schiphol airport.
Wietske cleaning one of the geese
Matteo looking for the liver
Recipe
Airport Goose Liver with Caramelized Onion Rings, Dried Figs and Red Wine Sauce.
We prepared the goose livers in a very simple way. We grilled them in a pan with extra-vergin olive oil, butter (or better with goose fat itself, though wild geese are quite lean), wild marjoram (found almost anywhere in Amsterdam) and a bit of garlic, or poor-man’s mustard leaves: only 2-3 minutes on a high flame to leave the inside undone and remove them quickly from the pan. The onion rings were caramelized in the same pan with few drops of olive oil and after few minutes some drops of red wine too. We cut the dried figs and warmed them up in the same pan (raisins may be ok too). Everything apart. Again in the same pan, we prepared a sauce with red wine and a bit of: water, honey and wheat flour. We warmed goose livers up again and served them with grained rock salt, onions rings, dried figs and the sauce.
Pick a good aromatic plonk. We drunk a gorgeous Chinon, Le Roches Lenoir, 2000.