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I mistakenly assumed everyone grew up with the tradition of carefully drying the wishbone. This custom, however, appears to be peculiarly Anglo-Saxon, with uncertain origins and many bizarre and contradictory explanations put forward. This is often a sign that the tradition derives from an ancient belief and in this case, the ritual of breaking wishbones may be linked to the prophetic power of the goose. Many religions and sacred ceremonies from Scandinavia and Europe to India and China depict the goose, often in the company of gods. Why the goose? Geese are migratory birds and early peoples observed that their reappearance each year signaled the return of the sun and the arrival of spring, and with it, fertility and prosperity. So, the goose was thought to have prophetic powers and these resided in its bones.

Before flying south for the winter, the geese grazed on the harvested fields to fatten up for the long flight. The fattened geese made excellent eating, and afterward, their bones, in particular the breastbone, were examined to predict the severity of the approaching winter. Goose feasts became an important pagan tradition. Like many pagan rituals, they were expropriated by Christianity and transformed into feasts for saints. In Britain, the goose feast was linked to the archangel Saint Michael, whose feast day is September 29, known as Michaelmas. In Europe, Saint Martin’s day, or Martinmas, November 11, was the day to eat goose. Both occasions celebrated the magical prophetic powers of the goose. In 1455, a German physician, Dr. Hartleib, described how the goose’s breastbone was dried overnight, then examined to predict the coming winter. The goose, like the groundhog, was an early weather forecaster, but unfortunately for the goose, it meant death. The doctor also noted that the Teutonic knights used a goose’s wishbone to determine the most advantageous time to wage war.

In parts of Scotland, predicting with a wishbone was not so simple. First, a hole was drilled in the flat top of the bone, then it was balanced on the bridge of the nose, like spectacles. The wearers of the bone had to pass a piece of thread through the hole, and the number of times it took them to succeed at this task would be the number of years before they married.

Once Europeans discovered the turkey, in Mexico, the goose was replaced on festive tables by this exotic new bird. Within a hundred years of Dr. Hartleib’s writings, turkey was common throughout Europe. Although goose remained popular in Scandinavia, Germany, and Eastern Europe, the belief in its prophetic power disappeared. Only in Britain was the oracular power of the goose maintained, if unconsciously, by playing a wishing game with the wishbone. The game was exported by the British to America, South Africa, and Australia. In all these places, the wishbone, especially from the Christmas bird, is dried, then snapped apart by two people pulling on either end. The tradition of linking little fingers to form a makeshift wishbone and wishing grew out of the same custom.

Chicken with Forty Cloves of Garlic

Forty cloves of garlic may sound like a lot but the garlic loses its bite as it slowly braises in the stock with the chicken. The garlic softens, becoming mild and creamy. I have no idea why the magic number seems to be forty, but a few cloves more or less won’t alter the flavor very much. The cooked garlic slides easily out of its skin and is eaten as a spread on toasted baguette slices.

1 chicken, about 4 pounds (1.8 kg)

1 lemon

2 thyme sprigs

2 rosemary sprigs

2 flat-leaf parsley stems

2 bay leaves

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

¼ teaspoon paprika

1 tablespoon olive oil

40 garlic cloves, unpeeled

1½ cups (375 ml) Poultry Stock (page 130)

1 teaspoon cornstarch

Toasted baguette slices

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Dry the chicken well. Cut the lemon in half and set one half aside. Rub the chicken inside and out with the other half, then place the lemon in the