This year’s goose season is certainly taking its time to end. Expected to finish with an already extraordinarily late Gansl on 28 November, it had its unforeseen and, unfortunately, disappointing continuation ten days later. During the Christmas holidays, it was only my exceptional laziness that stopped me from writing the final “Goose of 2024” article, though, to my credit, I had compiled an Excel sheet with all the scores and had the general outline of the awards post in my mind.
And then today I went for a short hike in Vienna’s vineyards and, as a result of multiple failures to find an open Heuriger, ended up in Kahlenbergerdorf, which is about as far as one can walk in the 19th district and still remain in Vienna. All the restaurants there were closed, too – except Heuriger Zimmermann, occupying the same space as the defunct Schimanko’s Winzerhaus, which had once belonged to Vienna’s night club king Heinz Werner Schimanko. Walking in to have a glass or two of wine, I was lucky to get the last available table and a few minutes later was looking at the menu in complete disbelief, for it quite clearly listed a goose. Or, to be exact, three goose options differing by their side dishes.
I went for Serviettenknödeln (bread dumplings) because I infinitely prefer them to potato dumplings and Böhmische Kraut (Bohemian cabbage) because I had no clue what it was. Named after a region of Czechia (and not Queen’s rhapsody), it tasted like completely normal, but overcooked and slightly sour white cabbage, mixed with soft white bread, boiled onions and a ton of butter. Perhaps thanks to the butter, which is capable of improving any dish, the Kraut was brilliant. I wish someone influential would recognize this soon and oblige all restaurants to serve it as an alternative to red cabbage.
The goose itself, on the other hand, was quite old and dry, as I had expected. The jar of jus helped to soften the meat and the equally dry bread dumpling somewhat, but the time had clearly had its toll on the goose. Still, the bird had plenty of meat, a reasonably crispy skin and a few burnt parts, which I enjoyed most. I wish I could have tried the same goose a couple of months ago – freshly cooked rather than frozen and reheated, it must have been excellent.
Although today’s unanticipated visit is not going to affect that outcome of this year’s goose contest, I am quite happy that Zimmermann helped me finish the season on a rather positive note. With only two days left till the New Year Eve, I am quite confident that the season is irreversibly over now.
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