Spiced Christmas Roast Goose

Method

1. Take your goose out of the fridge at least an hour ahead of time so it can come up to room temperature (this will help the goose cook more evenly). Preheat your oven to 220C.
2. Pat the goose dry with paper towel to help get the skin get nice and crispy as it's cooking. If your goose has any large pads of fat inside the cavity, you can remove these now and pop aside to use in other dishes.
3. Either lightly score your goose or prick holes all over the skin with a sharp knife - in either case, make sure you don't go too deep. You just want to pierce the skin down to the fat layer - don't go so deep that you hit the meat!
4. In a bowl, combine the salt and five spice - it should be two parts salt to one part five spice, then add a few pinches of pepper to taste. Rub this salt mix all over your goose, including inside the cavity.
5. Loosely stuff the cavity of your goose with the fresh herbs (you can also add some slices of orange or lemon if you like for a citrus kick).
6. If you have a roasting tray with a built in rack for catching the goose drippings, pop the goose onto that, otherwise sit the goose straight on your oven racks with a high sided roasting dish underneath to catch the fat. Slide into your blistering hot preheated oven and roast on high heat for 15 minutes or so before turning down to 170C. Cook for a further 20-30 minutes per kilo, basting every 30 minutes or so with the goose fat.
7. Optional: About halfway through the cooking time, you can pour off the goose fat that's accumulated so far. This is great to use for any roast potatoes you want to pop in the oven at the same time as your meat! If your goose is browning too fast at any point, pop some aluminium foil over the top.
8. Check the internal temperature of your meat using a meat thermometer - when it reads between 67C and 70C it's ready to come out of the oven. Rest for at least 30 minutes before serving to allow the juices to settle back into the meat.
9. Carve and enjoy!