The Surseer Honiggans

Cookies as commemoration

Pressed into the surface of soft gingerbread is the image of a pained looking goose with a sword at its neck.

This is the Surseer Honiggans (‘honey goose’).

Moulded cookies have been around for centuries, and there are plenty of baked goods commemorating local culture, but this sad goose and the tradition that spawned it is one of the strangest that still exists in Switzerland today.

The goose is the main feature of the Gansabhauet, an event that takes place every year on St Martin’s Day, November 11, in Sursee, a small city in canton Lucerne.