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Goose Giblet Pie
Take a goose, singe and scald the wings and head, cut off part of the beak and remove the eyes, skin the feet and head, cut open the gizzard and cleanse it, cut the neck into moderate-sized pieces and the liver and heart into halves. Put the giblets into a stewpan with a sliced onion, a few peppercorns and a bunch of sweet herbs, moisten to height with water and keep them gently simmering at the side of the fire for about an hour and a half, leave the giblets until cool and cut them into smaller pieces. Take a pie-dish and fill it with alternate layers of tender steak and the giblets, seasoning each layer with salt and pepper. Strain in the cooking liquor of the giblets and cover the whole with a good plain crust, trimming off neatly round the edges and making a hole in the center. Lay a sheet of paper over the top of the pie and bake for an hour and a half in a brisk oven. It may be served either hot or cold.
A Victorian-style raised meat pie built on the parts of the goose that never reach the table, with beef steak carrying the bulk. The instructions assume a whole bird arrives in the kitchen with head and feet attached; a modern cook works from a bag of giblets and buys the rest.
- What to buy insteadHead, beak and skinned feet are effectively unobtainable now. Use the neck, gizzard, heart and liver from one or two geese, or a pound of mixed poultry giblets from a butcher; goose necks and gizzards are often sold frozen around the holidays.
- The liver goes in lateGoose liver turns grainy and bitter after ninety minutes of simmering. Simmer neck, gizzard and heart for the full hour and a half and add the liver only for the last ten minutes, or reserve it for the pie raw and let it cook in the oven.
- "Moisten to height"This means water just level with the giblets, not covering them generously. The point is a concentrated liquor, since it becomes the gravy in the pie and sets to jelly when cold.
- A brisk ovenAround 425F. That is right for the first twenty minutes to set the crust, but ninety minutes at that heat will scorch it; the sheet of paper laid over the top is the period's answer. Drop to 350F once the crust has coloured, or leave the paper in place throughout.
- The steakThe recipe specifies 'tender steak' but gives no quantity. About 1 to 1 1/2 lb, cut in thin slices, suits a dish of around two quarts; a cut such as skirt that tolerates a long, moist bake is the safer choice. Since the dish is filled with alternate layers, the steak is not a garnish but something close to half the filling.
- The hole in the centreIt vents steam so the crust does not lift or go soggy. If serving the pie cold, pour a little of the reserved giblet liquor through the hole once the pie comes out; it will set to jelly under the lid.
- YieldA pie of this size serves six to eight, more as part of a cold table. Cool completely before cutting if serving cold, ideally overnight in the refrigerator.
Giblet pie belongs to a long English tradition of using the whole bird, and it appears in Victorian and Edwardian cookery books, drawing on the set of parts a roast goose leaves behind — the neck full of dark meat, the muscular gizzard, the heart, and the head and feet. Combining those trimmings with beef steak under a plain crust made a substantial pie out of odds and ends, and the beef is what gives it body; the giblets give it flavour. Oscar Tschirky includes it in a Waldorf book published in 1896, and the note that it may be served hot or cold points to the cold buffet, where a well-jellied pie held its own for days.