November has to be the most depressing month of the year. This is the reason people look for different comforters like soothing flavours and aromas. Shelves in greengrocer shops become empty, we’ve said our yearly goodbyes to tomatoes, have already forgotten about asparaguses, and strawberries are a fading memory of the summer. It seems as if things cannot get any worse foodwise. However, November also has one seasonal product that some have been waiting for all year: goose meat.
And it is goose meat that will be the main protagonist of today’s journey through the restaurants of Pomorskie. To prepare goose meat is no easy task, so the best and tastiest thing to do is to trust a qualified chef, and eat a perfectly prepared goose in a restaurant. Keep in mind that goose meat in the restaurants that we describe comes from the Kashubian region, and is served with local, seasonal ingredients.
What about a tender goose liver for starters? Served on a sweet, crunchy, buttery challah? Add some cherry & Porto sauce, with a sweet and sour note that delightfully complements the flavour of the liver, and you’ve got yourself a perfect dish. A dish that you can try in Brovarnia restaurant, located in the heart of Gdańsk. However, if offal sounds awful to you, Jarosław Waloch, the head chef, guarantees that the next most delicious choice is the main dish. Goose leg with beet and blackcurrant purée (a delightful composition of flavours), and two sauces: demi-glace, and cranberry. The confit goose leg is perfectly tender. If you prefer flour-based cuisine, then Brovarnia has prepared something for you: goose-filled pierogi. The goose menu is available until December.
The head chef of the Gvara restaurant, Krzysztof Wasilewski, also serves confit goose leg, but this time with a crispy potato babka (a traditional potato cake), delicious sauce made with root vegetables, and an original mix of fruit and vegetables: sweet pear, sour cherry, aromatic red onion, and Hokkaido pumpkin, known also as the Red Kuri Squash, which looks like apple slices. Only after you’ve tried it, you know that it’s pumpkin you’re eating. Its sweet and salty, buttery flavour is an excellent companion for the mouth-watering goose.
PG4, situated next to the main train station in Gdańsk, offers a genuine goose extravaganza. The head chef, Piotr Sobierajski, in one dish serves goose in three varieties: confit goose leg, goose breast with cinnamon, and the unusual yet delicious goose stomachs. Everything is served with onion jam, roasted pumpkin, and potato babka with a surprising addition of Jerusalem artichoke that gives the well-known potato treat an original aftertaste.
We continue our tour by visiting Słona Woda restaurant, located in Sopot. Here, a pink goose breast is served with pumpkin purée, delightfully golden carrots and roasted shallot, green peas, chanterelle mushrooms, and cherry sauce. The head chef, Piotr Strzelczyk, has definitely won the goose dish beauty contest with this. And it tastes just as good as it looks. The veggies are surprisingly crunchy, and the breast itself is pink and so tender that it’s hard to believe it’s actually goose meat. What other goose treats are on the menu in Słona Woda?
“Apart from goose breast, we will be serving pulled goose rillette, with fruit mousses and seasonal vegetables. The November menu is all about autumn flavours — traditional, elegant, yet edgy,” said the head chef. “The goose will be in the menu just before November 11 and will be available for a week,” he added.
This is just a fraction of what November has in store when it comes to goose treats from the best head chefs in the region. It’s going to be Novembelicious!
