Goose

Let me tell you about a goose, and why it is not just a big duck.

A whole bird like this weighs around 4 kilos, and almost all of that weight tells you something: goose carries far more fat under the skin than chicken or turkey ever will, close to 34 grams of fat per 100 grams of raw meat. That fat is the whole story of how you cook it. It melts slowly in a low oven, bastes the skin and the meat beneath it from the outside, and crisps up without you adding a drop of oil. This is why goose loves apples, cabbage, plums — anything a little sour, to cut through that richness.

Choosing one: the skin should look dry, not wet or grey, and there should be no smell at all. A good goose smells of nothing.

Now, some people say goose is "dry, tough meat, hard to cook right." No! That reputation comes from overcooking, treating it like lean poultry and roasting it hot and fast, so the muscle fibers seize up and squeeze out their juice before the fat has had any chance to do its work. Goose wants time, low heat, patience. Rush it, and you throw away the very thing that makes it worth cooking at all.