John Myers
Goose meat is very rich. It is higher in fat and higher in calories than other common types of poultry. But that doesn’t mean goose is unhealthy. Goose fat, for example, contains monounsaturated fatty acids, which are among the so-called “healthy fats”. In this country, goose meat is particularly popular in winter and is served on various holidays, for example as Christmas goose. The taste of the meat is strong and hearty.
- Goose meat is comparatively high in calories. 100 grams of meat with skin provide around 340 calories. That’s more than twice as much as chicken with skin. Goose meat has the most calories of all types of poultry that are common in this country. If you want to save calories, you should remove the skin and fat before eating or concentrating on the leg. It provides less than half the calories and is therefore about as nutritious as chicken breast with skin.
- The calorie content is mainly due to the high proportion of fat: goose meat with skin has a fat content of 31 percent. For comparison: In the case of chicken meat, this is only 10 percent. Here, too, the leg is the lower-fat choice. If necessary, the skin can be removed before consumption. The fat content is particularly high directly under the skin. However, since some of this fat escapes during frying, a not inconsiderable part of it is found in the sauce that is prepared from the escaped fat. It can be skimmed off during preparation if needed.
- Goose meat provides some valuable nutrients. Its content of the minerals potassium and magnesium is higher than that of other common types of poultry such as chicken, turkey, or duck. It also contains more vitamin E than other poultry. Here it makes no difference whether the leg or another part of the goose is eaten. The club has a slightly higher proportion of iron.
- In this country, geese are not slaughtered all year round, but only from August to December. However, they are commercially available and frozen all year round. Frozen geese need not fear comparison with fresh meat. If the goose is properly defrosted, there is no loss of quality.
