Glorious Christmas Goose - Jacques Pépin

Jacques Pépin tells how to roast the crispiest, juiciest, most exquisite holiday goose by adapting a traditional Chinese technique.

When I was growing up in France, the only time I remember ever having goose was on Christmas Eve. For that reason, I always associate goose with other traditional holiday foods: chestnuts, oysters, foie gras, bûche de Noël and oranges. (Yes, oranges, which were a delicacy imported from North Africa only at Christmastime.) Goose is now sold year-round but about 75 percent is prepared during the holidays. You can buy fresh birds, but most of the geese at stores are (or were at one time) frozen. I've had wonderful luck cooking thawed geese, which are young and quite tender.

Published December 2005