More than one way to skin a goose

How many chefs does it take to cook a Cape Barren goose?

It may sound like the set up to a pretty ordinary joke, but, as it turned out, it was a question well worth asking.

The Cape Barren goose (Cereopsis novaehollandiae Anatidae) is a uniquely Australian game species. A biological oddity; the geese are endemic to a scattering of coastal islands off the South Eastern mainland, Tasmania, in the Furneaux group in rugged Bass Strait and, on the opposite end of the country, around the Recherche Archipelago off the South Coast of Western Australia.

Their ability to adapt to agricultural practices, particularly improved pasture, has seen the geese thrive over the past half a century or more, to the point where they now need to be managed for overabundance in some places.

Flinders Island in the Furneaux group is probably the most advanced and well-known Cape Barren goose management program. On the Island geese are managed sustainably by recreational hunters under a science based adaptive harvest regime which has the added benefit on bringing in significant tourist dollars to the isolated community.

In an average year around 2500 geese are taken by hunters who cherish the wild hunting experience, great fellowship and ability to share a rare treat with friends and family.

And so, it was that, via an overstocked camo clad ecotourist returning from Flinders Island, we came into possession of a quantity of Cape Barren goose breasts looking for a home.

Enter Jesse Gerner, the culinary entrepreneur behind a number of Melbourne’s hottest eateries.

Jesse saw the potential to bring together his circle of chef friends to explore the possibilities of a food about as far away as it gets from the “everyday” ingredient.

Jesse’s neighborhood favourite, Nomada in Fitzroy was the chosen venue and a warm Tuesday night (the “weekend” for hospitality types) saw a diverse range of food artists cram into a small kitchen to each rip their own unique take on the big bird.

Every chef bought a unique approach to the task from the outset; Gerner came armed with recipes in his copy of The English and Australian Cookery Book. First published in 1864, it is the oldest known Australian specific collection of recipes (being Tasmanian it features Cape Barren geese). Jesse’s Bomba Bar colleague Andrew Fisk delved even further back, brandishing a Catalonian cookbook written in medieval times. Victor Liong prepared his own recipes in his trademark modern Cantonese style and wild food evangelist, David Moyle, chose to completely wing it on the night (no goose pun intended).

After a few hours of fun, frivolity, Spanish beer and some intense cooking; the large back table at Adana was loaded with a spread of dishes as diverse as their creators — highlighting the amazing versatility of wild shot game.

So, how many chefs does it take to cook a Cape Barren Goose? …the more the merrier.