THIS recipe has been taken (complete with antiquated language) from The Lady's Companion, which was first published in two volumes in 1736 as The Whole Duty of Woman.

From 1736 the detailed advice on lifestyle and the moral behaviour of women of all kinds, whether virgins, wives or widows were removed, leaving just the recipes, and the name was changed to The Ladys Companion.

As with a lot of the books published during this period, many of the recipes were taken from other recipe books.

The green goose by the way is the goose raised for the spring, which would have grown fat on fresh green shoots, making them slightly more flavoursome than those raised for Michaelmas (the feast of St Michael) in the autumn.

This soup was particularly popular during mid-18th century and would have no doubt been one of many served from the boar's head tureen, though it's difficult to imagine just how it was served as a soup, given that the goose was added to the dish whole. Perhaps the goose was allowed to boil for long enough to break up and separate into bite-sized pieces?

METHOD

  • Make a force-meat of goose liver, a piece of bacon, a calf's udder, or beef-sewet, some crumbs of bread soaked or boiled in milk and three or four eggs; chop all together, and season with pepper, salt, sweet herbs and spices.
  • When this is done, put your force-meat into your goose's belly, then put it into a pot with some good broth, and set it a doing gradually over the fire.
  • Then take the crusts of French rolls as usual, and put them in a stew-pan, with some of the same broth your goose is boiled in and set your crusts a-simmering and soaking gently over a stove.
  • When they are tender, put them in your soop dish and the goose upon then, then put over your goose a cullis of green peas, if it is season, or else asparagus tops.
  • Garnish the rim of your dish with middling bacon and serve it hot.