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Faroese goose

22 May - 2009 - Porkeri - Suðuroy - Faroe Islands.

 

Den færøske gås (Føroyska gásin) er formodentlig den ældste form for tamgås i Europa og muligvis direkte efterkommere af de tamgæs, som landnamsfolk medbragte fra Skandinavien og de Britiske øer.

da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Den_f%c3%a6r%c3%b8ske_g%c3%a5s

 

”The Viking Goose”

The Faroese have a special ‘goose culture’. In none of our neighbouring

countries can you see so many small flocks of geese in fields

and in larger or smaller enclosures in the cultivated areas

on the Faroe Islands.

 

The Faroese goose is thought to be a direct descendent of the

tame goose which the Landnam people brought with them from Scandinavia

and the British isles. It was in 1990 described as a separate

goose breed in the journal Skandinavisk Fjerkræstandard and

‘Geflugel Börse’ no. 15, 1993 stated that it believes the Faroese

goose to be the oldest tame goose breed in Europe. The goose

flock on the cover gives a good impression of the large variations

in colour of our geese. There are around 20 Faroese words which

describe the different colours and colour patterns.

 

On the mountain sides in the summer As shown by the picture

on the front page, we are in outlying land around the end of

September/beginning of October. The ‘goose families’ have been

driven together to be brought home from the still green mountain

sides. Each family, since being set out in May/June, has had

their own preserve in the area, where they have fed on the succulent

short summer grass without any form of feed supplement.

 

In fields in the winter

In the winter months, the geese roam in pairs freely in the

fields around villages. In some villages the fields are of such

good quality that the geese are not given food supplements in

the winter months either. However, most flock owners give the

geese a little feed just before and in the egg laying period.

The qualities of our small goose today are therefore first and

foremost the result of natural selection over many centuries,

where only the hardiest birds have been able to produce offs

pring.

 

Salted and dried as cold cuts - now however mostly as Christmas

fare

After 3-4 week’s fattening, the young geese are slaughtered.

Most were previously, after a simple dry salting, dried in the

wind for winter supplies. Even though this is still common,

most geese today end up on the Christmas table. A Faroese mountain

goose is therefore a unique culinary experience.

Written by Andrias Reinert

newissues.stanleygibbons.com/include/content_stampdetails...

 

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Uploaded on May 23, 2009
Taken on May 22, 2009