In cooking and gastronomy, goose is the meat of several species of bird in the family Anatidae, which also includes ducks and swans. The family has a cosmopolitan distribution, and various wild species and domesticated breeds are used culinarily in multiple cuisines. There is evidence as early as 2500 BC of deliberate fattening of domesticated geese in Egypt. The meat, liver and other organs, fat, blood, and eggs are used in various cuisines. Methods of cooking include roasting, spit-roasting, braising, steaming, grilling, simmering, and stewing. Dishes include roasts, joints, soups, stews, curries, sausages, forcemeats, and dumplings. In many culinary traditions, a roast goose is a feast meal dating back centuries.
History and uses
The common domestic goose belongs by descent to Anser anser, the greylag goose, which is still also widely seen in the wild in Europe. It features in the cuisine of France, Britain, Germany and many other European countries. Geese also provide some famous oriental dishes: Alan Davidson in The Oxford Companion to Food instances the marinated and roasted goose of Shantou in Guangdong province in China. Geese have been bred for the table for thousands of years, but by comparison with some other animals, domestication began late because geese take 30 days to hatch their young and more to rear them, which was too long for nomadic peoples. There are records of domesticated geese in ancient Egypt, and wall-paintings show them being force-fed to enlarge their livers. Pliny the Elder wrote in the second century AD that the goose was chiefly prized for its liver; he mentioned to the practice of force-feeing, and commented that soaking the liver in honey and milk made it even larger. Apicius gives a Roman-era recipe for anserem elixum calidum ex iure frigido apiciano (boiled goose served hot with cold apician sauce), in which a plain boiled goose is covered in a sauce made of pepper, lovage, coriander seed, mint, and rue. The meat, liver and other organs, fat, skin and blood are used in various cuisines. The meat has a distinctive flavor. Goose eggs are also used culinarily, but unlike chicken eggs are only available seasonally; in the UK goose eggs have a autumn-to-early-winter availability. Roast goose is the most common method of preparation. Roasted whole or cut-up goose dishes are found in Asian, European, and Middle Eastern cuisines. Spit-roasted goose was a traditional component of the indigenous cuisines of North America. A byproduct of roasting is that roasting a goose will render a great deal of excellent-quality fat which can be used for roasting potatoes or other vegetables, as the shortening in pie crust (sweet or savory), as a spread for bread, and a multitude of other culinary uses. One can also simmer pieces of goose submerged in the fat to make confit. In some cuisines geese are raised primarily for lard. According to NPR, goose fat is "the crème de la crème of fats". in 2006 Nigella Lawson called it "the essential Christmas cooking ingredient". In Chinese cuisine, goose is also steamed or braised with aromatics. In some cuisines stews or soups are made from goose meat. In German cuisine, goose neck is stuffed with goose liver and cooked to make a sausagelike dish; similar dishes are made in eastern Europe. Goose meat is also used to fill pies or dumplings or to make sausage.
Eastern Asia
China Most Chinese preparations of goose involve cooking it thoroughly. In southern China, roast goose is a variety of siu mei, or roasted meat dishes, within Cantonese cuisine. It is made by roasting geese with seasoning often in a charcoal furnace at high temperature. Roasted geese of high quality have crisp skin with juicy and tender meat. Slices of roast goose may be served with plum sauce. In the cuisine of Teochew people in Singapore, braised goose is a traditional dish; typical braising ingredients include soy sauce, rice wine, garlic, and spices such as cinnamon, ginger, and star anise.
Hong Kong Roast goose is traditionally popular and remains a common main dish in Hong Kong. Roast goose, as served in Hong Kong, especially in the city of Sham Tseng, is similar to its counterpart in the neighboring Guangdong Province of southern China. Some restaurants offer a similarly prepared roast duck.
Europe For many European cultures, roast goose is traditionally eaten only on appointed holidays, including Christmas and St. Martin's Day. Roast goose was a traditional Sabbath meal among Jews in Eastern Europe.
Britain In Britain, goose became particularly associated with Michaelmas in late September. According to Mrs Beeton in her Book of Household Management (1861):
Hannah Glasse (1751) published a recipe headed "Goose à la Mode", in which a whole chicken stuffed with ox-tongue is placed inside a large goose and the assemblage is gently poached with onions, herbs, ham, red wine, and chopped veal sweetbread, truffles and mushrooms. Mrs Beeton, a century later, specified a plain roast, with sage and onion stuffing.
Croatia A traditional dish in Croatia is guščji paprikaš, a noodle and goose meat stew with roots in the areas around Županja. Croatia also has a roasted goose dish, martinjska guska s marunima, which is stuffed with chestnuts; it is often served on the feast of St Martin.
Denmark Gaasesteg is a goose roast with apples and prunes, similar to the French Oie à la hambourgeoise. It is usually served with red cabbage and Brunede Kartofler – potatoes browned in butter and sugar.
France The goose also features prominently in the cuisine of France. Davidson writes that the Gauls of what is now France were already producing plump geese, fed on barley or millet gruel, before the Romans invaded, and that the French can possibly claim the longest and most faithful devotion to the goose. They were for many years the principal producers of foie gras, goose (or duck) livers artificially enlarged by force feeding, known in France as gavage – considered a delicacy by some and an abuse by others. The French may have been overtaken as producers by eastern European countries and Israel, but remain its principal consumers. The range of French methods of cooking goose is wide, and includes:
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