Goose in Onto

Veneto’s farmers once bred varieties of geese that were gray or gray and white, but they were eventually replaced by the large Romagnola white goose. The geese were used to make cured meats, prosciutto (“parsuti” in dialect) and an unusual preserve called “oca in onto” or “oca in pignatto”, meaning “goose in fat.” This kind of confit, which used all the parts of the bird, could keep for many months. The preserve was made in the winter by the women, who used the idle time during the cold season to make hearty preserves for consumption during the summer. Traditionally the first geese were butchered and eaten in early November, for the feast of St. Martin.

Season

Available all year round