Christmas Is Coming And The [Colonial] Goose Is Getting Fat....

Christmas is coming, and the colonial goose is getting prepped a little early at Totara Estate, the historic place cared for by Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga.

Totara Estate’s annual Community Christmas event on December 8 (1-4pm) is fast approaching – which for many people signals the beginning of the yuletide, and the start of the summer holiday season.

This year the Victorian-themed Christmas special will feature all the regular favourites – including Christmas songs in the historic stables, as well as stories and poetry shared by the community.

No Christmas celebration would be complete without fabulous festive treats – and this year will be no exception with, among other delicacies, Colonial Goose sandwiches on offer.

“Colonial Goose is a classic New Zealand dish which perfectly illustrates the old colonial tradition of making do with what you have,” says Totara Estate Property Lead Jacqui Allison.

“The ‘goose’ is, in fact, stuffed sheep meat with the bone removed. Geese were relatively thin on the ground in colonial New Zealand, and they had eaten so much mutton that it had grown slightly tiresome. But both tradition and humour were of importance to the Victorians, so mutton and lamb was ‘dressed up’ to be used as a jovial alternative to the traditional English goose.”

As the site of the sheep processing operation that was so crucial to the success of the first shipment of frozen export meat from Port Chalmers to London on February 15 1882 it is appropriate that Totara Estate features lamb – in the form of ‘Colonial Goose’ – as a central part of the fare at the Community Christmas event.

Bookings for the Community Christmas are highly recommended – people can book by phone (03-433-1269) or follow the link: https://www.visitheritage.co.nz/whats-on/otago-events. Adults - $35; children (under 18) $20.

© Scoop Media