Goose as food

Goose

Roast goose served to Babur at a 16th century banquet given by the Mirzas
Type	Poultry
Course	Main dish, side dish
Serving temperature	Hot or cold
Variations	Roasted, steamed, braised, stewed, spit-roasted, simmered

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 culinarily 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 roasted goose is a feast meal dating back centuries.

Uses

A roasted goose with head and neck

A dish of roast goose

The meat, liver and other organs, fat, skin and blood are used culinarily 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 fall-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 creme de la creme of fats". in 2006 Nigella Lawson called it "the essential Christmas cooking ingredient".

In Chinese cuisine, geese in addition to roasting may be 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.

Goose and goose liver are also used to make foie gras, pâtés, and other forms of forcemeat.

Eastern Asia

Goose as food
Traditional Chinese	燒鵝
Simplified Chinese	烧鹅
Hanyu Pinyin	shāo é
Cantonese Yale	sīu ngó
Literal meaning	roast goose
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin shāo é IPA [ʂáʊ ɤ̌] Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization sīu ngó IPA [siw˥ ŋɔ˧˥]

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 Teochew's Singaporean community, Teochew braised goose is a traditional dish; typical braising ingredients include soy sauce, rice wine, garlic, and spices such as cinnamon, ginger, and star anise.

Window display at a restaurant specializing in goose dishes in Hong Kong

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.

Yat Lok Restaurant (Roast Goose Restaurant) is a Michelin-starred family restaurant in Hong Kong that specializes in goose prepared in the style of Cantonese Barbecue.

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.

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.

France

In parts of France, such as Alsace, goose is a commonly eaten main dish. Goose fat is an essential ingredient in a traditional cassoulet.

Christmas goose in Germany

Germany

In Germany, roast goose is a staple for Christmas Day meals. A traditional German dish is Gefüllter Gänsehals, a dish of goose neck stuffed with a mixture of goose liver, bacon, bread, and herbs which is sauteed, simmered, and sliced for serving.

Hungary

The "goose region" of Hungary is the southern Great Hungarian Plains. Goose liver is a major export.

Poland

Geese have been raised for food in Poland for centuries. In the 1600s and 1700s they were particularly popular for feast and celebration dinners. Czernina soup was traditionally popular. National consumption of goose has decreased, with most geese being consumed on St. Martin's Day.

North America

Canada

Many indigenous people of North America traditionally depended heavily on goose as a food.

United States

Goose has generally been replaced by the turkey in the United States. In the United States, the high price per pound of goose, coupled with the large size of the bird and low yield of meat to bone and fat, makes a goose more expensive per serving than turkey. While goose was once a common Christmas dinner in the United States, it is now less popular as the meal's centerpiece than turkey, prime rib, roast beef, steak, chicken, brisket, pork, ham, lamb, fish, or duck.

Oceania

Goose is not a commonly-used poultry in Australia but as of 2019 was raised on the continent and offered in some restaurants.

Western Asia and the Middle East

Egypt

Goose was eaten in Ancient Egypt. There is evidence as early as 2500 BC of deliberate fattening before consumption.

Feseekh is a traditional Egyptian dish that is usually served during Sham el-Nessim, a spring holiday that dates back to the time of the Pharaohs. Feseekh is made by salting and fermenting fish, often with goose meat added to enhance its flavor and nutrition.

Iran

In Iran, goose meat is often used in ghimeh, a stew of yellow split peas, diced potatoes, and meat that is cooked in a tomato sauce.

Jordan

Mansaf is a traditional Jordanian dish often served during weddings and other celebrations; it is typically made with tender pieces of lamb or goat meat that are cooked with spices, served on top of a bed of rice, and topped with a yogurt sauce, but goose meat is sometimes used as a substitute for lamb or goat meat.

Turkey

Roasted goose is a commonly eaten main dish in parts of Turkey. The Kars region of Turkey specializes in a Kars-style roast goose, or Kars kazı ve bulgur pilavı (Kars goose with bulgur pilaf). The Kars goose is also a breed of goose raised in the area specifically for use in this dish. The goose is baked at extremely high temperature in a tandoori-style oven above a dish of bulgur onto which the rendering fat drips.

Gallery

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  Gęsie pipki (goose necks stuffed with meat)
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  Goose soup with root vegetables
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  Roast goose with Klöße (dumplings) and red cabbage
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  Braised goose
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  Roast Goose Curry served with rice at a restaurant in Thailand
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  Goose in blood sauce at a restaurant in Willmersreuth
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  Jars of goose lard
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  Pie made with leftover goose meat from a roast goose
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  Kaz tiridi, a Turkish specialty of goose meat served over bulgur
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  Cholent, a stew of beans topped with smoked goose
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  Goose pierogi
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  Stinky tofu with goose blood
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  Goose eggs
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  Pork belly with octopus and goose intestines
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  Goose fat as a spread on rye bread

See also

• List of Christmas dishes
• List of goose breeds