# Why is goose not eaten in the U.S.? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 31, 2006, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-goose-not-eaten-in-the-u-s/342406 "2006-01-31T21:39:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-goose-not-eaten-in-the-u-s/342406/21 "2006-02-01T00:00:45Z")
> [@Ukulele Ike](#): > > Do you goose-cookers _save_ the grease to use for sauteing? I always have some fresh-rendered chicken and/or duck fat in the fridge, because it makes the most delicious home-fries and latkes. Dammit. I want duck fat fried french fries in the worst way. ---
**Author:** ![Ghanima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Ghanima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ghanima)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-goose-not-eaten-in-the-u-s/342406/22 "2006-02-01T00:04:58Z")
I had goose for Christmas dinner in Germany one time. It was awesome. I loved it. And yes, it was quite fatty. Great for a feast, but not for your average meal. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-goose-not-eaten-in-the-u-s/342406/23 "2006-02-01T00:07:32Z")
> [@Wallet](#): > > I live in Brooklyn as well. Wild geese are _everywhere_! I can’t take my son to the park sometimes because of all of the green goose poop. The geese are usually not that agressive, but we did have a large one chase us out of the playground one day! > > Does anyone know if these wild geese are edible? There are _so_ many (hundreds in my neighborhood alone, roaming all over). Edible or not, in some places it is illegal to hunt wild geese. You’d at least need a hunting license. Besides, as you may have heard, they are really, really greasy. ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-goose-not-eaten-in-the-u-s/342406/24 "2006-02-01T00:17:05Z")
I wanted to try goose for some time and finally had the chance a few months ago. It was good, but didn’t taste especially different from turkey. The breast meat is redder, since it’s actually a flying bird as opposed to a mutated Pam-Andersony breast endowed flightless birdlike animal (speaking of course of the typical farm raised Thanksgiving bird) and somewhat gamier tasting, but good. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-goose-not-eaten-in-the-u-s/342406/25 "2006-02-01T00:21:47Z")
> [@photopat](#): > > I wanted to try goose for some time and finally had the chance a few months ago. It was good, but didn’t taste especially different from turkey. The breast meat is redder, since it’s actually a flying bird as opposed to a mutated Pam-Andersony breast endowed flightless birdlike animal (speaking of course of the typical farm raised Thanksgiving bird) and somewhat gamier tasting, but good. Yes, but was it greasy? ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-goose-not-eaten-in-the-u-s/342406/26 "2006-02-01T01:23:20Z")
> [@Case Sensitive](#): > > Yes, but was it greasy? Not after I wrung it out a few times. Made some nice candles too. No, really, I don’t recall it being greasy. ---
**Author:** ![light\_strand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a6a055/32.png) [@light\_strand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/light_strand)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-goose-not-eaten-in-the-u-s/342406/27 "2006-02-01T01:33:08Z")
Well I don’t eat goose because it takes forever to pick all the bird-shot out. Oh and it’s a bit greasy. Yes wild geese are edible, and quite good, but a bit greasy. ---
**Author:** ![sunfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/96bed5/32.png) [@sunfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunfish)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-goose-not-eaten-in-the-u-s/342406/28 "2006-02-01T01:39:28Z")
I’ve seen goose in the supermarket plenty of times, right next to ducks, Cornish hens, and the occasional capon. Good stuff, but a little greasy. > [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Also – are there cultures where “goose grease” is eaten as on bread, where Americans would use butter? (I got that from Avram Davidson’s fantasy stories about Dr. Eszterhazy of the Triune Monarch of Scythia-Pannonia-Transbalkania, modeled on the Austro-Hungarian Empire.) My dad grew up in a rural area that’s currently part of Serbia, right near the junction with Romania and Hungary. It was common practice for them to preserve sausages in barrels, surrounded by pork fat rendered from the slaughtered pigs. The pork fat would be used for cooking, and sometimes spread directly on bread for a tasty snack. Years later, he would always drive my mom crazy by using rye toast to sop up the fat and crunchy bits left in the dutch oven whenever she made pork chops. I tried it once - it was tasty, but you could practically hear your arteries hardening as you ate. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-goose-not-eaten-in-the-u-s/342406/29 "2006-02-01T01:45:46Z")
_Every_ year at Thanksgiving time, I can count on Mr. new begging, pleading for goose for dinner. I tell him we can certainly have goose instead of turkey for Thanksgiving dinner. The year _he_ cooks Thanksgiving dinner. To my way of thinking, the biggest advantage to being the cook in the house is that you never, ever have to cook something you hate. Sometimes I’m benevolent, and break my rule of not cooking what I hate, in order to serve creamed spinach. But I ain’t cookin’ goose. Nuh-uh. No way. I don’t like wild-tasting things. Don’t like duck, either. Also, goose is greasy. I prefer my fat in cheesecake. ---
**Author:** ![Kansas\_Beekeeper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@Kansas\_Beekeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kansas_Beekeeper)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-goose-not-eaten-in-the-u-s/342406/30 "2006-02-01T01:49:11Z")
Grocery stores here have them also, at least in the winter. I cooked one a couple months ago. As mentioned, very greasy so you’ve got to cook it right. Not nearly as much meat as a turkey. But they have a stronger, gamier taste than a turkey, which I do like. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-goose-not-eaten-in-the-u-s/342406/31 "2006-02-01T02:24:28Z")
It has a rather high fat content. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-goose-not-eaten-in-the-u-s/342406/32 "2006-02-01T02:39:26Z")
> [@MLS](#): > > Edible or not, in some places it is illegal to hunt wild geese. You’d at least need a hunting license. Besides, as you may have heard, they are really, really greasy. I’m sure it’ll depend on the state, but I know people that go hunting for Canadian geese here in New Mexico. I don’t remember the bag limit. Could be as low as three, could be as high as twenty. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-goose-not-eaten-in-the-u-s/342406/33 "2006-02-01T02:43:36Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > I’m sure it’ll depend on the state, but I know people that go hunting for Canadian geese here in New Mexico. I don’t remember the bag limit. Could be as low as three, could be as high as twenty. 0 Should be as high as all of them. Those bastards are mean. I have foie gras pretty often. Fattened goose liver sounds pretty good actually. I’m going to go get some from the fridge maybe with a little Chianti. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-goose-not-eaten-in-the-u-s/342406/34 "2006-02-01T03:19:45Z")
> [@Wallet](#): > > I live in Brooklyn as well. Wild geese are _everywhere_! I can’t take my son to the park sometimes because of all of the green goose poop. The geese are usually not that agressive, but we did have a large one chase us out of the playground one day! > > Does anyone know if these wild geese are edible? There are _so_ many (hundreds in my neighborhood alone, roaming all over). I think if I lived in NYC, I’d be focusing on recipes for squab . . . ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-goose-not-eaten-in-the-u-s/342406/35 "2006-02-01T03:21:58Z")
> [@Corii](#): > > The one time I had goose it was delicious. Tasted a lot like roast beef. Not chicken?! ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-goose-not-eaten-in-the-u-s/342406/36 "2006-02-01T03:40:32Z")
As my birthday is celebrated on Thanksgiving, I can tell you what I have had for my birthday dinner for 39 farking years. And it ain’t goose. I love goose. It’s juice and tasty and greasy. REally really greasy. It doesn’t make me sleepy after I eat it and it isn’t dry and lifeless, like their dumbass cousins, the turkey. > [@](#): > > They aren’t that hard to find in the supermarket. They are almost always frozen, though, so you would have to look in a different section. I’ve usually found a frozen goose in the ( duh) freezer section near turkeys, duck and, those little cornish game hen thingies that feed what, half an ethiopian? ( Which are, in case you didn’t know this and want to be shocked, really baby or immature chickens. There is no such creature as a cornish game [hen](http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&c2coff=1&rls=RNWE,RNWE:2004-27,RNWE:en&oi=defmore&defl=en&q=define:Cornish+game+hen) Won’t someone think of the baby chickens?! am I the first person to discover this culinary shock or the last? Oh, and goose is more expensive than turkey. Buttloads more expensive. Which is a puzzlement to me, as these things are everywhere, shit everywhere, nasty little buggers and, in case you missed the culinary memo, greasy. If it is greasy, then it should be cheaper. You never see turkeys on the fairway Your particular golfing style not included… You never see turkey’s blocking traffic as they egotistically waddle across the road. You never step in turkey shit. I think there is a conspiracy or conglomerate going on with the Turkey Farmers (Ranchers?) of America. > [@](#): > > We steam ours, then roast them, as recommended by Mark Bittman in How to Cook Everything. You pierce the skin before steaming it, and most of the fat comes out during the steaming process. At the risk of setting myself up for a joke, I’ll bite: How do you steam a Goose? ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-goose-not-eaten-in-the-u-s/342406/37 "2006-02-01T03:50:28Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > 0 > > Should be as high as all of them. Those bastards are mean. You sure? It’s hard to tell, because I don’t know all the game terms, but the bag limits were [unlimited](http://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/conservation/waterfowl_aerial_survey/documents/2004-05mrgvdarkgoosereport.pdf) for a week last year (warning: PDF). In this year’s [guide](http://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/publications/documents/small_game_rib_2005-06.pdf) (warning: PDF), it looks like the limit, depending on where you are is generally three or four a day (pages 11 and 12.) Though it appears to be illegal to hunt in them in most of the counties containing the Rio Grande without a special permit, which gives a one-week season with total season bag limit of 2. The 20 I was thinking of was for the light geese (snow geese, blue-phase snow, and Ross), not the Canada. It’s been a long time since I talked with the people I’m thinking of, and I knew that something like 20 a day (80 in possession!) was for some type of goose. Not sure why I was thinking the Canada goose. And then after the regular season is the conservation season, with no bag or possession limit. So I guess depending on what kind of goose you want, you can go out and shoot one (or as many as you’d like) yourself. Personally, I’d probably just buy it at the store. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-goose-not-eaten-in-the-u-s/342406/38 "2006-02-01T03:53:15Z")
> [@Shirley Ujest](#): > > At the risk of setting myself up for a joke, I’ll bite: How do you steam a Goose? Tell it it’s greasy. ---
**Author:** ![edwino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@edwino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwino)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-goose-not-eaten-in-the-u-s/342406/39 "2006-02-01T03:55:26Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > I have foie gras pretty often. Fattened goose liver sounds pretty good actually. I’m going to go get some from the fridge maybe with a little Chianti. I hear fava beans go well with it also. ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-goose-not-eaten-in-the-u-s/342406/40 "2006-02-01T04:39:19Z")
Alright now there’s a MPSIMS thread about this, and I feel it is far past time to put an end to this…goose is not greasy!!! Well ok, they have a thick layer of fat under the skin…well they’re water birds. This is the same reason people rub goose fat on themselves before swimming the English Channel. And you get a lot of fat when you roast a goose…it renders out. But goose is not a greasy meal, unless you cook it badly. And anyway, I say again I’m hard put to see grease as a reason an American wouldn’t eat something. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-goose-not-eaten-in-the-u-s/342406.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-goose-not-eaten-in-the-u-s/342406.md?page=3)