Goose fat
Anser anser domesticus · Meat
Top 10 pairings
Goose fat is the soft, pale-gold fat rendered from the skin and fatty tissue of geese — slowly melted out, strained clear, and set to a creamy, ivory semi-solid. Rich, savoury and clean-tasting with a generous smoke point, it is the traditional fat for the crispest roast potatoes, for confit, and for enriching the goose-and-duck cooking of central Europe and south-western France; at Christmas it is the classic fat saved from the roasting bird.
Picking a good onedrag
Pale, clean-smelling, a dry jarRancid: painty, or mould-spotted
Sealed or in useEveryday bestCap it tight, keep it dark and off the hob, and put only a clean dry spoon in. At 0.2% water there is nothing here for bacteria; adding water undoes that.
Colour of the set fatDeeper gold: rendered hotter, so it tastes roastier
How it sets in the jarFirm and waxy from the fridge, still even throughout
Melted, held to the lightClear, with a few fine brown specks of crackling
Smell at the jarMilder and flatter, still clean, nothing sharp