This Month

Michaelmas, celebrated on 29 September, is the Feast Day of St Michael and All Angels. It is also Quarter Day or Martinmas, when landlords and tenants would fix and pay their rent and farm labourers went to the hiring fairs in search of work.

The best known of these fairs are still held in Tavistock and in Devon and Nottingham. They were often known as Goose Fairs, as they would also be the occasion when the farmers would drive their geese to market. The birds would be at their prime at this time, plump and tender, having been 'a-stubbing' - let loose in the fields after harvest to feed on the stubble - and the feast day provided the ideal excuse for roasting a bird.

It is worth remembering the old superstition that blackberries should never be picked after Michaelmas Day as the Devil was supposed to have spat on the fruit to spite his rival.

Come and join us at our Special Michaelmas and Apples Market in Soho on Saturday 25th September 2010 where you will be able to pick up plump and tender geese and juicy British Apples.

Try a Goose for Michaelmas - or indeed any occasion, including Christmas - from our FoodLoversBritain.com Approved Geese Producers

Goodman's Geese are well-known for the quality for their free-range oven-ready birds ...

More FoodLoversBritain.com Approved producers...

Recipes for Michaelmas

The Main Course
Roast Goose... Traditional Roast Goose... How to Carve....


The Trimmings
Perfect Roast Potatoes... Braised Red Cabbage... Carrots roasted with Celeriac and Parsnip... Apple Sauce... Apple and Brandy Stuffing... Potato, Onion, Lemon and Sage Stuffing...

There are still a few Goose Fairs taking place around the country, although you may not find as many live geese as there once were. But they're still enormous fun with plenty of goose-y offerings for the Food Lover

Tavistock Goose Fair  ...  Nottingham Goose Fair...

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