Since 1991, every year on 11 November there has been a street festival on St Martin Street. This day alludes to the medieval St Martin's Day. St. Martin was a bishop from Tours; a patron of children, hoteliers, riders, cavalry, hatters, smiths, tailors, millers, travellers, prisoners, beggars and soldiers. Traditionally on St Martin's Day in Poznań, people eat cakes called rogal świętomarciński and goose.

Goose breeding in Poland has a long tradition, reaching back to the XVII century. Nowadays, goose is treated as a posh, gourmet product and it really isn't one of the cheapest dishes around. Sometimes it is worth giving in to temptation because the taste of this meat is excellent. Not many people know that Poland is the biggest goose producer in Europe, and, along with apples and oscypek (local Polish sheep's cheese), organic goose meat has a chance to become a symbol of our cuisine.

Today's proposal for preparing goose thighs was inspired by Karol Okrasa. It takes quite a long time to roast, but thanks to this the goose fat renders, leaving the skin thin and juicy, and the meat soft.

Ingredients:

4 goose thighs

2 tablespoons of thyme

200ml of apple juice

200ml of apple cider

Salt and pepper

8 slices of American bacon

fistful of dried cranberries

Heat the oven up to 200C.

Spice the goose meat up with salt, pepper and thyme. Put it into a casserole dish and pour in the apple juice and cider. Bake for 20 minutes. Drop the temperature to 175C and bake for 2.5 hours, sprinkling from time to time with sauce from the dish and, if necessary, topping up the apple juice and cider in equal measure. Take the goose out of the oven and leave it for a while. Don't turn off the oven. Cover a casserole dish with some baking paper and dot it with olive oil. Carefully remove the bones from the meat and insert some cranberries in their place. Wrap two strips of bacon round each leg, with the seam facing down. Bake for 15 minutes to slightly brown the bacon.

Enjoy your meal!