Tender and Fresh Goose

Goose between the Holidays

While it is best know as an ancient Christmas Holiday feast (see below), goose is a very tender and flavorful fowl that can add delicious diversity to your standard menus. We not only have whole goose, but we also have breasts, drumsticks and thighs, confit - some available smoked. We are conditioned to consider chicken the only fowl to consider...but variety is the spice of life.

Whole Young Goose  Our Whetstone Valley Young Geese are USDA Inspected, Grade A Geese and are Free Range and All Natural. 

As an added bonus, a goose renders plenty of fat - or as some say - liquid gold that is perfect to save for roasting potatoes. Simply use a rack to cook your goose, so you're left with lean meat and delicious fat for later.
Boneless Goose Breast Our Boneless Goose Breast provides the juicy and rich flavor of a traditional roast goose, and are the perfect size for an intimate dining experience. Our Boneless Breast are also a Chef's delight - offering the rich flavor of goose in an easy-to-prepare manner. Breasts are harvested from USDA inspected, Grade A Geese

Goose Leg Quarters Our Goose Leg Quarters are so versatile - they make a delicious meal or a wonderful confit. With 4 legs per pack, there is ample meat for a small crowd. An added bonus is rendered fat to preserve for your potatoes or vegetables.

Smoked Goose Breast  Our Smoked Goose Breast is so easy and delicious, it will fit into any culinary repertoire to serve in several delicious ways.Serve it cold or at room temperature as an hors d’oeuvre. Make a delectable sandwich or wrap for a quick lunch. Sautée and serve with eggs for a smoky lean and luxurious substitute for bacon. No Bacon, no problem - have a “GLT” sandwich with Smoked Goose, lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise. The goose breasts are smoked over real hickory wood chips until the flavors of the rich dark meat and smoke blend together.

Whole Smoked Goose Our hickory chip smoked goose is fully cooked and delicious anyway you serve it: Ready-to-devour from the refrigerator. Served at room temperature. Warm from the oven - our favorite.The goose is smoked over real hickory wood chips until the flavors of the rich dark meat and smoke blend together.

History of the Holiday Goose

Reprinted from Delish

The goose has been perfectly created to make for the ideal Christmas feast. Geese are ready to be
eaten twice a year. Once when they are young or "green" in the early summer and
again when they are at their fattest and ripest toward the end of the year. It also has the softest fat in its category of animal. The fat turns to liquid at 111 degrees Fahrenheit (compared to duck fat, which liquefies at 126 degrees) making it easier to cook. They were thus used as the centerpiece at Michaelmas, a feast day celebrated during the Middle Ages, which fell on the winter solstice and honored the end of the harvest and the change in season. Earlier than that roast goose was an offering to Odin and Thor in thanks for the harvest. It was also ritually eaten in ancient Greek culture in
order to insure the crops in the months to come. It was only natural for goose to become the roast of choice for the Christmas, which eventually took the place of other winter solstice festivities. For the American settlers, turkey took goose's place because that's what happened to be living on their new home soil and it too followed the same pattern of maturation.

Whole Goose from Schiltz Foods

In 1944, Marlin Schiltz was given five Toulouse goose eggs found by his wife, Kathryn, and her sister. He hatched two goslings and grew them to twelve pounds, selling them for 12 cents a pound. That started the Schiltz family in the goose business. Currently, Schiltz Foods is the largest goose producer in the Americas. Because of a warm fall, this years geese are smaller than usual and we offer only 8 to 10 pound birds serving 6 to 10 people. 

Whetstone Valley Geese are:

• USDA Inspected, Grade A Geese
• Raised Without Antibiotics
• Free Range and All Natural

Alex Seidel, head chef at Fruition & Mercantile